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Cards capture D-2 bronze; Matt Gohl, Keifer Messersmith named to all-tournament team
Cards capture D-2 bronze; Keifer Messersmith named all-tournament, joins teammate Matt Gohl among scoring leaders
LINCOLN -- The Hayes Center High School boys captured third place in the Nebraska Class D-2 boys state basketball tournament with a 55-54 win over Hay Springs Saturday at the Lincoln Northeast High School gymnasium.
Matt Gohl, an All-Tournament Team member, led all scorers with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals for the Cardinals.
All-tourney teammate Keifer Messersmith scored 13 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Clifford added 11.
"These young men are a great group to be a part of," said Cardinal coach Louis Cuellar. "You don't find many high school kids that represent themselves on the floor like this group.
"I am truly going to miss my four seniors and wish them the best in their lives to come. The last game is always emotional but at least we were able to finish it on a win at the state tournament."
Isaac Hughes scored 13 points for Hay Springs.
Hayes Center (22-3) 10 15 11 19 -- 55
Hay Springs (23-2) 15 8 21 10 -- 54
Hayes Center: K. Messersmith 15, Rosno 4, T. Clifford 11, Christner 2, Gohl 21, Bishop 2.
Hay Springs: Tr. Kuhn 6, Hughes 13, Te. Kuhn 4, Backward 9, Lee 5, Schmid 2, W. Schmid 7, Cover 8.
Ewing 65, Hayes Center 50
LINCOLN -- The Hayes Center Cardinals came out firing on all cylinders jumping on top-ranked Ewing 21-12 in the first quarter Friday at the Pershing Center in Lincoln. Ewing came alive in the fourth quarter to beat the Cardinals 65-50.
Class D-2 scoring leader Austin Kaczor scored 34 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for Ewing.
Brian Christner scored 13 points for Hayes Center. Matt Gohl added 11 and Keifer Messrsmith 10 points.
"Today was a battle between two heavy weight fighters that went 10 rounds without either on backing down," said coach Louis Cuellar.
"I am so proud of the boys and we couldn't finish the way we had wanted it too but nonetheless, we battled to the buzzer."
Ewing 12 14 20 19 -- 65
Hayes Center 21 8 14 7 -- 50
Ewing: Thramer 5, Switzer 6, A. Kaczor 34, Fry 1, B. Kaczor 6, Funk 9, Rokahr 4.
Hayes Center: K. Messersmith 10, E. Messersmith 3, L. Clifford 9, Rosno 2, T. Clifford 2, Christner 13, Gohl 11.
Class D-2 final
Sterling 49, Ewing 48, OT
Zach Lempka hit a jump shot from the left wing with 3.2 seconds left to give Sterling a 49-48 overtime victory over Ewing in the Class D2 championship game at the boys state tournament Saturday.
Austin Kaczor had converted a three-point play with 14.9 seconds left to put Ewing ahead by a point, but Lempka was able to set his feet for the game-winning shot from 18 feet after catching an inbounds pass.
"I just saw an opening and knocked it down," Lempka said. "I knew it was going in right away."
Sterling grabbed a 46-40 lead to open the overtime. But Ewing took the lead after Brett Kaczor hit two free throws to pull his team within 47-45, Philip Thramer stole the inbounds pass and Austin Kaczor scored underneath and drew the foul.
"We had too many empty possessions and had trouble finishing," Ewing coach Greg Appleby said. "We were in trouble there in overtime down six but had a nice little flurry."
Lempka finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Jacob Wirthele added 12 points for the Jets (22-4).
Kaczor led Ewing (24-2) with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Sterling's Wirthele made a free-throw to tie it 40-all with 44 seconds left in regulation. Kaczor's 3-point try at the buzzer fell short.
Class B
Ralston 61, Beatrice 49
Brothers Greg and Dwight Smith were unstoppable, which made Ralston unbeatable.
Greg and Dwight Smith combined for 44 points and 19 rebounds and Ralston broke open the game in the second quarter, beating defending champion Beatrice 61-49 in the Class B final at the boys state tournament Saturday night.
"We had no answer for the Smith boys tonight," Beatrice coach Jim Weeks said. "When they play like that, they're going to beat us most nights. We just couldn't stop them. We're not going to beat them when they play like that."
Greg Smith had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Dwight Smith 21 points and nine rebounds. The Rams (22-4) shot 65 percent from the field while winning the school's first basketball title since 1964.
"This is more than anything than I've ever dreamt of," Greg Smith said. "I've dreamt about this every day for four years. This is just unbelievable."
Grant Smith had 16 points and Tommie Bardsley 12 for Beatrice (20-3), whose only s losses were to the Rams, their chief rival in the River Cities Conference.
Ralston trailed 16-10 after the first quarter, then went on a 15-0 run and never led by fewer than five points the rest of the way.
Smith scored 11 points in the second quarter, finishing the Rams' first-half scoring with a dunk that put his team up 27-18. A Bardsley 3-pointer just before the buzzer sent the teams to the locker room with Ralston ahead 27-21.
Class A
Omaha Creighton Prep 34,
Lincoln Southwest 31
Maxwell Huerter scored four of his eight points in a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter and Omaha Creighton Prep held Lincoln Southwest to 26-percent shooting, helping the Junior Jays to a 34-31 victory in the Class A final Saturday at the boys state tournament.
Prep (22-5) won its 11th state championship and first since 1994. It was the lowest-scoring final since 1945.
Huerter scored Prep's final points with 2:41 left, but Southwest missed its last six shots from the field.
"I'm just thrilled to death. I could have woken up tomorrow and been OK, but the kids would have been heartbroken," Prep coach Josh Luedtke said. "I'm just thrilled."
Jake Marvin scored nine points and had 12 rebounds to lead the SilverHawks (23-3).
Kyle Headley scored all seven of his points for the Silver Hawks in the first half. Both teams struggled mightily from the field, and Southwest eked its way to a 17-16 halftime lead.
The SilverHawks made just 7 of 23 shots from the floor over the first two periods. Creighton Prep was just 5 for 21, including 1 of 10 on 3-pointers.
Marvin hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Southwest a 27-25 lead after three quarters.
Prep then went on its decisive run. Huerter connected twice, Scott Criss added a bucket and Caleb Steffensmeier hit a 3-pointer.
Southwest missed three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds.
"It just didn't go in the hole," Southwest coach Duane Baack said. "The kids played their butts off. What else can you say?"
Class C-1
Hastings St. Cecilia 61, Chadron 58
Jake Hamburger may have led Hastings St. Cecilia with 18 points, but it was the final two of Blake Wright's 16 that gave the Bluehawks their second consecutive state championship.
Wright's lay-in with 28 seconds left lifted St. Cecilia to a 61-58 victory over Chadron on Saturday night in the Class C1 final at the boys state tournament.
"I thought I was going to miss it. I had too much time to think about it," Wright said of his final two points. "This one is two times better because we did it back-to-back."
The Bluehawks shot 71 percent and got 10 points from Hamburger in the first quarter while building leads as big as nine points. Once the Cardinals started firing, however, the game was on.
Alec Holmquist scored 13 points in the first half and Elliott Eliason added 10 more as Chadron rolled back to take a 38-36 lead.
The Cardinals led 43-38 on a Zach Bargen jumper with 4:54 left in the third period, but another flurry from St. Cecilia highlighted by Dalton Sealey's go-ahead 3-pointer had the Bluehawks back in front 50-46 after three.
Chadron turned the ball over on four of its first five possessions of the fourth quarter, and the St. Cecilia lead grew to 55-48.
A pair of Holmquist free throws put Chadron within 59-58, Wright hit the uncontested layup with 28 seconds to play. Holmquist missed two 3-pointers in the last 10 seconds.
"We just couldn't finish," Chadron coach Craig Nobiling said. "They really stepped up the intensity on defense. We knew it was going to be a physical game."
Eliason had 17 points and Holmquist 16 for Chadron (25-1). Sealey had 14 for the Bluehawks (24-1).
Class C-2
Ravenna 57, Freeman 51
Every time Adam Mingus would shoot Ravenna to a big lead, Kyle Schlake and Elliott Mencl would find a way to bring Freeman back.
Eventually, after Ravenna's 15-point lead dissolved into nothing, it was Connor Beranek and Eric Johnson who came to he rescue for the Blue Jays in a 57-51 victory in the Class C2 final Saturday at the boys state tournament.
Mingus scored 12 points to lead Ravenna (23-5) to big leads. But it was Johnson and Beranek who jump-started Ravenna in the fourth quarter, with Beranek hitting a pair of 25-foot 3-pointers to give the Blue Jays the lead again after Freeman briefly went ahead.
"I was feeling it. I practice those shots all the time," said Beranek, a freshman who scored 11 points. "They were huge shots. I shot them with a lot of confidence."
Mingus scored nine points in the first half to help the Blue Jays get out to a 26-16 lead.
A Riley Beranek 3-pointer with 5:51 left in the third quarter put Ravenna out in front 34-19 before Freeman rallied.
Mencl scored seven points in the third period and the Falcons pulled within 38-34 by the end of the quarter. A Jordan Pella jumper off the feed from Mencl gave Freeman a 39-38 lead with 5:26 left.
But Connor Beranek took the next two shots for Ravenna, both going in from well beyond the arc.
Johnson scored five of his 12 points late in the game, including three free throws to ice the win.
"Our kids showed how tough they really are. They fought their way back into it and took the lead," Freeman coach Jim McLaughlin said. "The freshman (Beranek) throws one up and you hold your breath because you know he's capable of making them."
Mencl scored 15 to lead Freeman, while Schlake and Ryan Busboom scored 12 points each for the Falcons.
Ravenna picked up its sixth title and second since 2005. Freeman (25-2) was in the finals for the first time.
Class D-1
Mead 55, Humphrey St. Francis 52
Mead won its first state basketball championship since 1935 on Saturday night with a 55-52 victory over Humphrey St. Francis in the Class D1 final.
Eric Johnson hit two free throws with five seconds left for the final margin after Derek Classen made a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game.
"I wasn't going to let this one slip away. We were too close," Johnson said. "This is a big thing. It feels good. Really good."
Classen's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer fell far short.
Johnson finished with a game-high 24 points for the Raiders (19-6). Nathan Raver added 14 points and Jordan Moline 10.
Trent Classen made 5-of-6 3-pointers and led St. Francis (21-5) with 17 points, and Derek Classen added 16.
"What a run they had. In the second half they just played better than us," St. Francis coach Eric Kessler said. "They made more plays than we did down the stretch."
It was the second straight year and third time in five years St. Francis lost in the finals. The Flyers won the D1 crown in 2006.
Mead won the Class F title in 1926 and Class B championships in 1932 and 1935.