The Nebraska High School Basketball All-State Project - Saluting 1988

Worth noting BIG TIME, is the fact that in 1987-88, Nebraska prep basketball implemented the 3 point point line. The 3 point shot is the single most important addition to the high school game in this state since that time. It changed the game itself forever.........and for the best in my opinion.

*Here are the class by class State Tournaments at a glance in 1988:

*Class D-2: The 1st Round matchups looked like this:

(20-1) Butte 53-42 Adams (13-7)

(17-4) Hampton 66-46 Sidney St. Patrick (13-4)

(11-7) Lawrence 45-44 Lebanon Beaver Valley (19-0)

(14-4) Spalding Academy 66-46 McPherson Co. (14-4)

***Lawrence junior Troy Schuette was the hero of the day in the D-2 Opening Round games, sinking a half court THREE COURT shot with four seconds left, sending undefeated Beaver Valley home. How fitting was it that a 3-point shot at the buzzer won a game at the State Tournament the first year Nebraska high school basketball implemented it into the game. 1987 D-2 runner-up Hampton pulled away from Sidney St. Pats in the 2nd stanza and was never threatened in a 66-46 win. Spalding Academy’s spectacular 6-5 Mark Bloom tied two D-2 records by pouring 32 points on 14444 field goals. He also pulled down 24 rebounds in the Spalding Academy’s 66-46 win over McPherson County. Butte jumped on Adams 21-10 after one stanza and cruised to a 53-42 win, led by Gregg Klein’s 17 points.

**Myron Parsley, nearly impossible to stop one-on-one, scored 25 points to lead Hampton to a 62-48 victory over Bute in the D-2 semis. Hampton Coach Jerry Eickhoff's boys Trent played a great game, finishing with 14 points and distributing the ball well. In the other semifinal matchup, Spalding Academy had problems with 11 win Lawrence due to the fact Irish big man Mark Bloom spent most of the 3rd quarter on the bench in foul trouble. But he returned in the 4th stanza to score 9 points to lead Academy to a 59-54 victory.

*Hampton was just too deep for Spalding Academy’s two-man show of Mark Bloom (29 points) and Pat Mahony (18) while posting a 69-55 win to snag the D-2 Championship after finishing runner-up the year before in a heartbreaking loss to Sterling. Myron Persley led the Hawks with 23 points and set the three game tournament record with his 70 point total. It was a terrific win for Hampton super coach Jerry Eickhoff, who won a State Championship with Hampton in 1973..

*Class D-1: The 1st Round matchups looked like this:

(20--2) Humphrey St. Francis 68-54 Odell (15-5)

(18-1) Potter-Dix 65-60 Loomis (14-5)

(20-1) Falls City Sacred Heart 75-65 Spencer (12-7)

(18-2) Polk-Hordville 78-57 Sandhills (17-2)

***A stunning first round upset set up a couple of interesting semifinal matchups in D-1. Potter-Dix, with no player taller than 6-1, overcame an 8 point halftime deficit to best a much taller Loomis squad, 65-60. Meanwhile, the tall inside combination of Humphrey St. Francis 6-4 sophomore Ken Sander (16 points, 14 boards, 8 blocked shots) and junior Kevin Kosch (16 pts/13 rbs) overwhelmed Odell 68-54. Gary Sagehorn (6-5) powered Polk-Hordville to a 78-57 win over Sandhills with his 32 points and 13 rebounds. Falls City Sacred Heart, trailing 55-50 entering the final eight minutes, outscored Spencer 11-6 in the final stanza then 14-4 in the extra period to advance to Friday’s semis. 6-1 Freshman Steve Simon led the Irish (who had all 5 starters score in double figures) with 20 points.

**After missing his first 10 shots, Falls City Sacred Heart Matt Knobbe came out firing in the 4th quarter, Knobbe made all three of the his shot attempts and scored 13 of his game high 23 points in the fourth quarter to lead the sixth ranked Irish to a 60-52 victory over 4th rated Polk-Hordville. Meanwhile, 6-4 sophomore Ken Sander’s 30 points and 12 rebounds led Humphrey St. Francis to a 57-52 win over a pesky Potter-Dix team. Sander got in foul trouble with 4:25 left in the 3rd with the Flyers leading 37-29 and did not return until 2:23 left in the game, enabling Potter-Dix to pull within 43 to 40, but Sander’s late game on the line presence made the difference.

*Falls City Sacred Heart’s 6-1 David Fink was the king-of-the-day in the Irish 66-58 win over Humphrey St. Francis. The 6-1 Finck neutralized the Flyers Ken Sander while giving 3 inches, holding the star post man to 18 points, 4 in the entire 2nd half. Meanwhile, the Irish star-of-the-day scored 17 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to aid Sacred Heart. Mast Knobbe led the Irish with 20 points, Finck followed with his 17 then came Raphael Darveaux with 16. .

*Class C-2: The 1st Round matchups looked like this:

(17-5) West Point CC 62-53 Osceola (15-4)

(20-0) Pleasanton 68-64 Perkins County (22-0)

(22-1) Lincoln Christian 70-53 Hastings St. Cecilia (14-47)

(18-1) Oxford 69-57 Bancroft-Rosalie (15-7)

**West Point CC broke open a nail-biter by outsourcing Osceola 21-11 in the money quarter. Paul Neeson canned 23 points in the 62-53 triumph. In a battle of unbeatens, Pleasanton’s Rob Martinson’s 18 and Dan Robbins 15 points led the Bulldogs to a 68-64 win over a very fine Perkins County (Grant) squad. Fast breaking Lincoln Christian, trailing 26-22 to St. Cecilia at the half, ran the Bluehawks off the floor in the 2nd half (48-27), cruising to a 70-53 win while a 46-36 second half scoring advantage led Oxford to a 69-57 win over Bancroft-Rosalie. Oxford, who forced 29 Bancroft-Rosalie turnovers, was led by Neil Lisec, who scored 32 big ones (12-23 FG, 8-9 FT).

**Lincoln Christian’s relentless running game resulted in several devastating runs spelled doom for Oxford in an 80-65 semifinal win. Pleasanton dandy Rob Martinson set a C-2 scoring record with his 34 points in the ‘Dogs 58-49 victory over West Point Central Catholic.

*Lincoln Christian outscored Pleasanton 11-1 in the final 3 minutes to grab the C-2 State Title, 70-65.The Crusaders trailed by as much as 64-59 with 3:11 left before the run. Nick Orduna and Jason Dworak led the way for Lincoln Christian with 21 points apiece, however Pleasanton’s fabulous Rob Martinson led all scorers with his 28 points. What a player!

*Class C-1: The 1st Round matchups looked like this:

(21-2) Sutton 71-58 Omaha Flanagan (15-5)

(18-6) Tri County 52-44 Cambridge (19-1)

(21-0) Atkinson West Holt 58-54 Tekamah-Herman (14-7)

(19-3) Homer 49-48 Randolph (19-2)

***Sutton’s sophomore brother duo of John and Jay Spearman scored 24 and 22 points respectively as the Mustangs survived a 1st Round scare versus Omaha Flanagan 71-58. That final margin doesn’t seem close but Flanagan led 56-54 with 4 minutes and change remaining before Sutton scored the final 15 points. Tri-County overcame an icy 17 of 64 shooting performance to beat Cambridge 52-44, Atkinson West Holt outscored Tekamah-Herman 19-7 in the opening stanza, then had to overcome a 37-29 2nd half advantage by Tekamah-Herman to hold on for an uninspiring 58-54 win. Homer held off a 4th quarter Randolph comeback to post a back and forth 49-48 win.

**Tri-County avenge TWO regular season losses to Sutton by trimming the Mustangs 68-62 in the C-1 semis. The Mustangs had beaten Tri-County by identical scores of 70-68 during the regular season. Tim Koch led the Trojans with 18 points, while Aaron Pieper added 16. Jay Spearman led all scorers with 22 points and set a C2 record for free throws by converting 12 of 14 in the loss. Number One, unbeaten West Holt pulled away from a pesky Homer team in the 2nd half (38-24) enroute to a convincing 74-53 win. Bruce Chubick scored 32 points and Chris Peacock hit three straight three-pointers to add 20 points.

*West Holt outscored a tenacious Tri-County team, outscoring them in every quarter but the 4th (20-25), then held off the Trojans for a high scoring 85-78 victory and the C-1 crown. Bruce Chubick and Chris Peacock each dumped in 31 points, accounting for 73% of the Huskies offensive output. Four team records fell in the contest, West Holt’s 85 points (most points by a winning team), Tri-County’s 78 for a losing squad, the 163 combined points scored and West Holt’s three game tournament record 237 points.

*Class B: The 1st Round matchups looked like this:

(18-3) Lincoln Pius X 64-58 Elkhorn (19-4)

(14-5) Broken Bow 45-44 Alliance (22-0)

(16-5) Hartington CC 59-56 Seward (22-1)

(20-1) Wahoo 61-58 Ord (18-4)

***Wahoo looked sluggish in the opening round, trailing Ord by 12 points at one juncture and woke up to defeat the Chants 61-58. It wasn’t easy. Meanwhile, with Cedar Catholic, the case was almost the reverse. The Trojans blew a 10 point lead and trailed by one with 43 seconds left, got a basket by Matt Steffan with 12 ticks left to topple a very fine Rod Felix-coached team, 59-56. In the earlier Class B games, Broken Bow shocked #1, unbeaten Alliance 45-44 on a Jerry Stithem basket with 17 seconds remaining and Lincoln Pius X rallied from a 39-38 deficit to dispatch Elkhorn 64-58. John Boudreaux led Pius with 18 points on perfect 5 of 5 shooting from the field (3-3 from beyond the arc.

**Lincoln Pius rallied from a 39-37 3rd quarter deficit to a Danny McLaughlin-coached Broken Bow team to pull off a 64-58 win. Pius junior Kelly Hendricks scored 7 of his game high 23 points in that 4th quarter, lifting the Bolts for the 2nd straight day. Wahoo started sluggishly for the second straight day before catching fire in the 4th quarter to overcome Hartington Cedar Catholic, 62-47.

*Nebraska football recruit Steve Carmer, who missed his first 8 shots of the game, made his blast 3, including a driving layup with TWO seconds left to give Wahoo a 50-48 win over Lincoln Pius X. Pius had the game in control, thanks to a 16-0 run from the 2:15 mark of the 2nd quarter to the 5:12 mark of the 3rd, giving them a commanding 31-20 lead. Wahoo then went on a 16-1 tear to take a 42-36 lead with 3:31 left in the game before holding Pius down the stretch before Carmer’s heroics.

*Class A: The 1st Round matchups looked like this:

(18-1) Columbus 61-46 Kearney (12-8)

(18-4) Millard South 79-64 Lincoln High (17-4)

(20-2) Omaha Creighton Prep 71-64 Omaha Burke (14-8)

(18-7) Omaha Benson 55-54 Lincoln Northeast (18-2)

***Omaha Benson’s 6-4 junior Leonard Wilson the final seven points of the game, leading the Bunnies to a jolting 55-54 win over top-seeded Lincoln Northeast. Sophomore substitute forward Mike Mueller turned in a perfect shooting performance in the Discoverers 61-47 win over Kearney. Mueller hit all 4 shots from the field and all 8 free throw attempts. Creighton Prep went blow-for-blow nearly the entire opening round clash before Brother Michael Wilmont’s Jays pulled away for their 71-64 win over Burke. Guard Eric Mitchell led Prep with 27 points while David Allen chipped in 17 and crashed the boards for 19 punishing rebounds. Larry Ribble’s Millard South machine connected on 31 of 51 field goals (61%) to post a complete performance in turning back Lincoln High, 79-64. .

**Omaha Benson’s Leonard Williams was once again the hero in the Bunnies come from behind one point victory (56-55) over 3rd rated Creighton Prep. Williams drained a 3 pointer with 22 seconds left. Millard South brought the crowd to its feet with a dazzling, Harlem Globetrotters ball-handling exhibition, dribbling away most of the final two minutes of the game, then finally being fouled with 4 seconds left. Johnson calmly sank a pair of free throws to give the Indians a 67-62 win over Columbus. Apparently no defender was within reach of Johnson during the dribbling performance to warrant a 5 second call; I would love to have watched that ball-handling spectacle.

*Millard South made it look easy by defeating Omaha Benson 60-38 in the Class A final. Brian Nielsen led the way for the Indians with 19 points and 12 boards. Benson’s Leonard Williams, the hero in the Bunnies previous wins in the tournament, led his team with 13 points

The 1988 All-State Teams in each Class plus Super-State Teams.

*1988 Class D-2 All-State Team*

Scott Lenners, Filley, 6-2, Sr., 20.5 ppg

Myron Parsley, Hampton, 5-10, Sr., 20.0

Mark Bloom, Spalding Academy, 6-5, Sr., 22.0

Larry Reiman, Butte, 6-1, Sr., 18.0

Jeff Hinrichs, Eustis, 5-11, Sr., 31.1.

2nd Team:

Kirk Wilson-Lebanon Beaver Valley, 6-1, Sr., 17.7

Greg Klein-Adams, 6-2, Sr., 17.0

Bart Stoll-Lodgepole, 6-4, Sr., 19.3

Mike Gleason-Monroe, 6-3, Jr., 19.0

Brian Pollard-Clarks, 5-11, Sr., 16.7.

*1988 Class D-1 All-State Team:

Ken Claussen, Wausa, 6-3, Sr., 26.4

Tim Thiele, Clearwater, 6-1, Sr., 19.0

Gerry Sagehorn, Polk-Hordville, 6-5, Sr., 18.7

Trevor Anderson, Sandhills, 5-10, Sr., 22.6;

Ben Horne, Exeter, 6-2, Sr., 19.9.

2nd Team:

Tim Jacobsen-Winside, 6-0, Jr., 29.1

Ward Greisen-Humphrey, 6-4, Sr., 20.7

Jamie Hajny-Clay Center, 6-3, Sr., 22.5

Kolin Haecker-Odell, 5-10, Sr., 18.1;

Ken Sander-Humphrey St. Francis, 6-4, Soph., 19.6

*1988 Class C-2 All-State Team*

Paul Neesen, West Point Central Catholic, 6-2, Sr., 19.5

Jason Slaughter, Bancroft-Rosalie, 6-5, Sr., 21.0

Rob Martenson, Pleasanton, 6-4, Sr., 21.8

Nick Orduna, Lincoln Christian, 6-0, Sr., 12.7

Rob Buckmaster, Friend, 6-4, Sr., 26.0.

2nd Team:

Paul Kroeker-Henderson, 6-3, Sr., 21.2

John Schott-Osceola, 6-4, Sr., 21.7

Gregg Dahlgren-Bertrand, 6-0, Sr., 23.7

Doug Domandle-Kearney Catholic, 6-4, Sr., 22.0

Jason Dworak-Lincoln Christian, 5-5, Jr., 15.8.

*1988 Class C-1 All-State Team*

Bruce Chubick, West Holt, 6-7, Jr., 33.0

Mike Engel, Sandy Creek, 5-11, Sr., 15.0

Tim Koch, Tri County, 6-3, Sr., 24.8

Chris Peacock, West Holt, 6-2, Jr., 23.8

Jay Spearman, Sutton, 6-4, So., 23.3.

2nd Team:

J.F. Hoffman-Cambridge, 6-1, Sr., 21.6

John Spearman-Sutton, 6-1, Soph.., 18.4

John Warrellmann-Geneva, 6-3, Sr., 23.4

Brad Vogt-Pender, 6-0, Sr., 21.6

Doug Ohnutka Wahoo Neumann, 5-11, Sr., 25.1.

*1988 Class B All-State Team:

Rob Noble, Elkhorn Mount Michael, 6-0, Sr., 22.8

Chris, Johnson, Crete, 6-4, Sr., 18.5

Mike Boss, Aurora, 6-5, Sr., 27.3

Kelly Hendricks, Lincoln Pius X, 6-4, Jr., 17.0

Derek Lodwig, Elkhorn, 6-0, Sr., 18.7.

2nd Team:

Doug Spurgeon-Gretna, 6-0, Sr., 17.8

Jesse Nelson-Ord, 6-3, Sr., 18.0

Jon Peterson, Alliance, 5-10, Sr., 19.5

Steve Carmer-Wahoo, 6-1, Sr., 15.5

Myron Schaefer-Seward, 6-3, Sr., 18.7

*1988 Class A All-State Team*

Steve Scheidegger, Columbus, 6-4, Jr., 20.2

Eric Priebe, Lincoln High, 6-4, Sr., 18.4

Eric Mitchell, Omaha Creighton Prep, 6-0, Sr., 19.0

David Allen, Omaha Creighton Prep, 6-6, Sr., 19.2

Kurt Sandstrom, Grand Island, 6-5, Sr., 23.9.

2nd Team:

Tim Brotzki, Omaha Gross , 6-3, Sr., 18.2

Dan Loesing, Lincoln Northeast., 6-3, Sr., 19.8

Brian Nielsen, Millard South, 6-6, Jr., 15.3

Jason Hoffman, Norfolk, 6-5, Sr., 17.6

Scott Somerhalder, Lincoln East, 6-1, Sr., 20.5.

*1988 Super-State 1st Team:

Steve Scheidegger, Columbus, 6-4, Jr., 20.2 ppg

Eric Priebe, Lincoln High, 6-4, Sr., 18.4

Brian Nielsen, Millard South, 6-6, Jr., 15.3

David Allen, Omaha Creighton Prep, 6-5, Sr., 17.6

Bruce Chubick, West Holt, 6-7, Jr., 33.0.

*1988 Super-State 2nd Team:

Kurt Sandstrom, Grand Island, 6-5, Sr., 23.9

Tim Brotzki, Omaha Gross, 6-3, Sr., 18.2

Mike Boss, Aurora, 6-5, Sr., 27.3

Chris Peacock, West Holt, 6-2, Jr., 23.8

Dan Loesing, Lincoln Northeast, 6-3, Sr., 19.8.

*1988 Super-State 3rd Team:

Eric Mitchell, Omaha Creighton Prep, 6-0, Sr., 19.0

Jason Hoffman, Norfolk, 6-5, Sr., 17.6

Steve Spurlock, Omaha Bryan, 6=7, Sr., 17.8

Scott Somerhalder, Lincoln East, 6-1, Sr., 20.5

Rob Martenson Pleasanton 6-4, Sr., 21.8.