Fab five area teams play for state on Friday

Dundy County-Stratton coach Matt Thomas (right) high-fived senior Grace Frederick (35) and all his Tigers following their subdistrict finals win over Cambrdge last week in McCook. Both the Tigers and Trojans will play district finals to make state on Friday.

Steve Towery/McCook Gazette

LINCOLN, Neb. — Area teams could cover every spot on a basketball court as five will compete for state tournament qualification Friday evening.

The official district finals were finalized on Saturday with Cambridge and Hitchcock County both earning a shot despite losing in playoffs in last week.

They’ll join subdistrict champions Dundy County-Stratton, Chase County and Maywood-Hayes Center at five different state-qualifying sites Friday night.

Dundy County-Stratton (21-2 record) is clearly the power-forward favorites entering a D-1 final. The Tigers (21-2 record) are seeded third among all D-1 teams after beating both Cambridge and Hitchcock last week.

They’ll take on No. 14 Heartland (13-9), who took down Deshler 45-33 to win its subdistrict last week.

Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. at Gothenburg High School.

Hitchcock County (18-4) and Maywood-Hayes Center (20-5) could form quite the experienced backcourt considering both teams played district finals last season.

The Falcons are seeded ninth among D-1 teams and face No. 8 Weeping Water (17-8) at Hastings High School.

Tip time if 6:30 p.m. The Indians will try to regroup from a 71-49 subdistrict loss to Archbishop Bergan last week.

The Wolves are only seeded 11th in D-2 despite winning playoff games by 20 and 35 points last week.

Coach Kim Stengel’s team can gain respect against No. 6 Mullen (20-3). Tip time will be 8 p.m. at North Platte High School.

The Broncos played amazing defense throughout their subdistrict last week. They allowed 43 points total(21.5 per game) and permitted more than eight points only once in eight quarters.

Meanwhile, Chase County (13-9) must play the role of defensive specialists trying to shut down 22-1 Wahoo Friday night.

First tip will be 7 p.m. at Kearney High School.

The No. 3-seed Warriors have been held to 45 points or less only three times all season — though one was last week’s stinging 46-42 playoff loss vs. huge rival Wahoo Bishop Neumann.

Wahoo’s previous 22 games featured only three with winning martins of less than 20 points.

Finally, the Cambridge Trojans (16-8) are fearlessly traveling north to take on 19-2 North Central Friday night at Broken Bow.

The Trojans are seeded 11th in D-1 entering this 7 p.m. contest. More details will appear this week.