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Ogallala knows what it has.

So does Ashland-Greenwood.

Both know they have enough to be playing exactly one month from Saturday, on March 14 in Pinnacle Bank Arena, for a Class C-1 state championship.

And if that matchup comes to fruition, consider the Valentines Day meeting in Grand Island a heck of a dress rehearsal.

With Sawyer Smith pouring in 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists the No. 1-ranked Indians held off the defending champion Bluejays 56-52 at the Heartland Hoops Classic.

“Any time you have a team of this caliber, you’re trying, and you’re constantly looking for, environments and atmospheres to put them in that get them ready for the state tournament,” Ogallala coach Carter Brown said. “I thought that was exactly what we got tonight.”

The game matched the final two unbeaten teams in the state — Ogallala outscoring its opponents by 32 points per game, and Ashland-Greenwood on a 31-game winning streak.

The crowd of 2,500 was the largest for any of Saturday’s eight games, and got what they came to see.

Ogallala (20-0), already without starting guard Lincoln Gillen and his 10.2 points per game due to a knee injury, saw two more players foul out in the fourth quarter and Smith picked up two fouls in the game’s first five minutes.

All the Indians did was lead for the game’s first 29 minutes, and by as many as 11 midway through the third quarter.

That’s a good recipe against one of the state’s most disciplined squads.

So what did the Indians learn about themselves in this potential state tournament dress rehearsal?

“Nothing new,” Smith said. “I think we thought we were the best team since last year, honestly, and I don’t know if we proved it tonight, but we’re trying to prove it at state in a few weeks.”

Hello.

Proving it at state is the last step for a program that has been at or near the top of C-1 for most of the past decade.

Ogallala has never won a title. There was a second-place finish in 2020 in the midst of the Auburn dynasty. Ashland-Greenwood sent the Indians home from Lincoln with a first-round win in 2022, and a 50-20 semifinal demolition in 2023, when Ogallala was unbeaten and this year’s seniors were freshmen.

Eventual champion Wahoo beat Ogallala in the 2024 quarterfinals. And last year, Smith suffered a serious ankle injury in practice one day before the state tournament, and a one-loss Ogallala squad lost to upstart Doniphan-Trumbull in the first round.

“This just shows how deep we are, and how good we can really be. We’re just trying to have fun and play the right way,” Smith said. “This atmosphere is the most state-like that you’re going to get. So it’s really fun. Coming into the postseason with a game like this kind of prepares us, and then with two of our guys out most of the game, it tested us a lot.”

Ashland-Greenwood’s first and only lead came with 2:47 left, when Derek Tonjes converted his second consecutive and-1 to put the Bluejays up 51-49.

Just 11 seconds later, Smith tied the game with a jumper in the lane, and after Ogallala got a defensive stop, Smith hit a pair of free throws to put the Indians back in front for good.

“It’s why you play basketball. That’s why you spend all those hours in the gym,” Smith said. “You want the ball in the last possession to go win a big game like that against a really good opponent.”

Six-foot-8 Tanner DeCastro had seven of his 14 points in the first quarter for Ogallala, finishing 6-for-7 from the floor and adding six rebounds and five blocked shots. Rylan Gilmore chipped in 10 points.

Ashland-Greenwood (20-1) got 19 points and five rebounds from Tonjes. Cal Kissinger added 17 points while Cooper Westerhold finished with 14.

And the Bluejays got plenty of value out of the game themselves.

“It was a great learning experience for us, to find things out and figure things out and learn, and prepare us for the end of February,” Ashland-Greenwood coach Jacob Mohs said. “You’d rather learn them here than in a subdistrict or district final. You don’t want to learn at that point.”

See you in March.

No. 1 Norris caps grinder week with win over No. 4 Scottsbluff

Outside of the state tournament, you won’t find a gauntlet tougher than the one Norris ran this week.

Actually, you won’t often find one that tough at the state tournament either.

The Class B No. 1-ranked Titans played the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 ranked teams in a span of five days, capping the stretch Saturday with a 59-48 win over No. 4 Scottsbluff that wasn’t secure until the final minutes.

The final score was the largest margin of the game. Norris led 49-46 with 3:18 left before scoring seven straight points to finally put the Bearcats away.

“I thought they handled the week really well just in terms of the prep — more so the mental side of things, because those were three grinders that we had to get ready to play,” Norris coach Jimmy Motz said. “And those felt like postseason games this week. And I think when you can get those types of games, this time of year, against really good teams, it’s going to make us better.”

Norris (20-2) was already pretty good. But the Titans had to respond after Tuesday’s 55-52 loss to Omaha Skutt that saw the Titans lose a 10-point third quarter lead.

They got it done behind Chris Garner, who went 3-for-5 on 3-pointers on his way to 17 points and seven rebounds. After scoring six points against Skutt, Garner had 31 against No. 3 Elkhorn North before his 17-point game against Scottsbluff and went a combined 7-for-9 from 3-point range in the two games.

“It stretches the defense when he’s getting it going,” Motz said. “He hit a couple timely ones in the second half. Offensively since Tuesday he’s been pretty efficient, but he’s been that way his whole career.”

Shane Holen added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Titans, who took the lead for good on his bucket inside early in a second quarter that saw Norris outscore Scottsbluff 14-5.

That spurtability was the difference for the Titans, who opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run after falling behind 15-10, and had a 9-3 stretch in the third quarter after Scottsbluff tied the game at 38, before the 7-0 fourth-quarter run to put the game on ice.

“It was spurtability both ways,” Motz said. “I think it was 31-22, and all of a sudden they go on a nice little run.”

Playing its third road game in three nights after games at McCook and North Platte, Scottsbluff (18-5) finished 4-of-19 from 3-point range and lost the rebounding battle 32-14. The Bearcats didn’t have any offensive rebounds.

“I’ve done this a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that,” Motz said.

UNK commit Nate Kelley had 17 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals for Scottsbluff, which has lost only to Norris, Omaha Skutt, Ogallala, and unbeaten North Dakota school Bismarck Century.

No. 2 Omaha Westside holds off No. 3 Lincoln North Star in OT

The best compliment you can give Lincoln North Star is that the Gators are absolutely miserable to play against when they’re on defense.

North Star flies around, uses a variety of looks, mixes in full-court pressure, and has the length and quickness to flat out take the ball from you seemingly at will.

Even leading by 10 points Saturday night, Omaha Westside found that out the hard way before clawing out a 60-52 overtime win to wrap up the Heartland Hoops Classic.

Power conference prospect London Dada had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead four Westside players in double figures. But the story much of the night was North Star guard Jordan Castor and North Star’s ferocity on the defensive end.

Trailing 25-15 midway through the second quarter, Class A No. 3-ranked North Star (17-5) held Westside to nine points over an 11-minute span in the second and third quarters to fight back to a 34-34 tie heading to the fourth. 

Westside only got the game to overtime when Dada, wearing a North Star defender like a fitted sheet, knocked down a 3-pointer for a 44-43 lead with 1:43 left, and Will Preston made a pair of free throws with 52.6 seconds to go which tied the game at 45 and force the extra period.

Castor, North Star’s 5-foot-11, herky-jerky guard, snaked his way among Westside’s trees — Westside’s starting lineup features three players standing 6-foot-7 or taller and another at 6-foot-5 — for 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and four steals while going 10-for-19 from the floor.

Westside’s 48 points in regulation was easily its lowest 32-minute total of the season, coming just a few days after the Warriors scored a previous season low 54 in regulation in a 16-point win against Omaha Buena Vista.

North Star forced 19 Westside turnovers, allowing the Gators to attempt 21 more shots than the Warriors. But outside of Castor, no Gator scored more than six points, and a 7-0 Westside run to begin overtime was enough.

The victory capped off a three-win week for the No. 2-ranked Warriors (19-4), who took down No. 10 Lincoln Southeast Tuesday before beating Buena Vista Friday. Westside has won eight games in a row since losing three of four in mid-January.

MORE COVERAGE: Coming tomorrow. A profile on new Grand Island Lutheran coach Jeremiah Slough, who now is having just as much fun in Class D-2 as he was in Class A at Grand Island Senior High. “Jesus, Then Basketball.” Plus more photos from Saturday’s games.

“Discipline, drive, and dedication. Competitive spirit. A commitment to constant improvement. These qualities make great athletes and coaches. They also make great financial advisors. Northwestern Mutual advisors educate clients to make important decisions to live differently and achieve their goals of financial security. Learn more about joining our team. Karges Financial Group and the Great Plains District are proud supporters of Nebraska high school athletics.