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Old gyms, new stories

IN THE CLASSIC OLD BARNS — They don’t come much more historic than the gyms at Mount Michael Benedictine and the Beatrice Municipal Auditorium.

Two of Nebraska’s most treasured homes for hoops have seen their share of moments, both the famous and infamous. In a 24-hour stretch over the weekend, both cathedrals saw the type of games that trend more toward the famous side.

We’ll start in Beatrice, where Saturday, in the 97th edition of the MUDECAS (that’s an acronym for Music-Declamatory-Sports for those of you wondering) Tournament provided the stage, no pun intended, for a gym with all its seating on one sideline and a stage on the other, for one of the great individual efforts the event has seen its nearly full century.

Unranked Tri County, seeded fourth in the eight-team “A” Division of the event, took down second-seeded Johnson-Brock 53-51 in the championship game a couple days after knocking off C-2 No. 2-ranked Freeman in the semifinals.

But that wasn’t the story. Well, sort of, as the Trojans won their second MUDECAS title in three seasons of the event that showcases small schools in southeast Nebraska.

The biggest chapter was written by Tri County senior guard Drew Siems.

With his team trailing Johnson-Brock 32-21 midway through the third quarter, Siems had two points and was 0-for-4 from the field.

Not exactly the line of a player who came into the game leading Class C-2 in scoring at nearly 23 points per game.

“I was (frustrated),” Siems said afterwards. “But my teammates kept on picking me back up every time. So it’s hard to get down on yourself when you always have positive teammates.”

In the game’s final 10 minutes, Siems produced the magic his teammates had been trying to pull out of him.

The 6-foot-3 guard scored 25 of his team’s final 27 points, and had the assist on the other basket.

It started with a steal and a layup. Then three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-pointer. Then another 3 late in the third period. And an and-1 to start the fourth.

His lone assist of the second half went to Jason Wehrman, whose bucket tied the game. Back-to-back baskets midway through the fourth gave Tri County its first lead since it was 16-15 in the second quarter.

“I can’t put it into words. I’ve never been able to see that or do that,” said Jeremy Siems, Tri County’s coach and Drew’s dad. “To have a player be able to step up in those moments and hit those shots is pretty special. It’s just that work where nobody’s looking I think that shows up in weeks like this.”

Drew Siems’ big night ended with 27 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. He posted 30 points in Tri County’s win over Freeman.

And Saturday marked Tri County’s second win over Johnson-Brock this season — the Eagles’ only two losses in a 12-2 campaign for the three-time defending D-1 state champs.

The first matchup saw J-B play without leading scorer Brody Koehler. Koehler played Saturday, finishing with 14 points and four rebounds. 

Tri County still had enough to get the job done.

“I like the mental toughness our guys showed. They just kept grinding,” Jeremy Siems said. “A point of emphasis we’ve really been talking about is defense. That’s the thing that can be consistent for us, and I think guys are starting to buy into that.”

Tri-County has four losses, but has avenged two of them — against Freeman, and against Falls City Sacred Heart.

Roncalli holds off Mount Michael

Thanks to some new bleachers, the shoes of the fans no longer touch the sidelines in The Palace, Mount Michael Benedictine’s cozy home arena.

But those fans are still pretty close. And they saw up close the home team nearly pull off an improbable rally before Roncalli Catholic was able to hang on for a 61-55 win that had no business being that close.

Class B Roncalli, a resurgent 10-2 this season under coach Chad Mustard after going 7-15 last year, led by 26 early in the third quarter and by 20 as the clock ticked under six minutes to play in the fourth.

Five minutes later, the Crimson Pride were watching a Mount Michael 3-pointer float through the air that would have cut Roncalli’s lead to two.

But the shot missed, Ben Mausbach grabbed his 17th rebound of the  night, and Roncalli held on.

“We’ve just got to believe that we can win ball games,” Roncalli coach Chad Mustard said. “We have a young team; we start five underclassmen. We haven’t been in a bunch of huge ball games.

“So my message to them is, I’m going to be happy as heck that we won, because it’s hard to do here. And I’d much rather learn from a win than a loss.”

Class B No. 8-ranked Roncalli’s only losses this season have come to the state’s best: C-1 power Ashland-Greenwood, and three-time defending Class B champion Omaha Skutt.

The Crimson Pride have returned to competitiveness with a balanced attack. Only one player, junior Brady McGill, went into Friday’s game averaging double figures in points, at 10.6.

Mausbach, averaging 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds, went off for 19 points and 17 boards and had his double-double by halftime, with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Jase Dasher had 13 points. Vinny Schwarz had 11 points and six boards. And McGill added 10 points and seven rebounds.

The balance is by design, as Mustard works to settle on a lineup that can consistently produce the kind of effort the former NFL tight end (12 catches, 123 yards over four seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos) seeks from his squad.

“We had like nine different starting lineups last year,” Mustard said. “We couldn’t find five guys who would play hard consistently, and now we have seven, and we’d be better if we had eight or nine because we have enough talent for more guys to play.

“So the growth in effort, energy, execution, the things that we preach, has been astronomical. But clearly we have more work to do.”

C-1 No. 6 Mount Michael (10-3) got 23 points and six rebounds from Connor Sall, who scored 14 in the second half and nine in the fourth quarter. Miles Wewel had 10 of his 14 points in the final eight minutes.

— Baz

Pius, Christian Stage Top-20 Battle

Few girls teams in the state have been playing as well Lincoln Pius X in recent weeks. On Saturday they added another great win to their resume with a 59-49 win over previously unbeaten Lincoln Christian, 59-49.

A quick start — a night after they took down Papillion-LaVista — let the Bolts control most of the game. They led 18-3 after the opening frame.

“I think us playing last night and them having two weeks off, was, you just never know how that is going to go,” Pius coach Ryan Psota said. “I just loved the way we attacked the rim, we go them in a little foul trouble. But, they can get back in a game in a hurry.”

Indeed, that’s exactly what happened after Kate Miller scored seven points in the opening eight minutes to give Pius control. But, Christian opened up in the second quarter.

Christian made five second quarter 3-point baskets, including three from Lexi Pittenger that cut the Pius lead to 30-24 at the break.

“Our philosophy today was to try to make them shoot twos,” Psota said. “They have taken more threes on the year than two and they should. It was kind of counter to what we faced against Papio. They get six in the first half, which was way too many.”

Then the Crusaders, kept battling. They eventually took the lead 33-32 with 4:06 left in the third quarter on a pair of Sam Dearking free throws before Pius had a final haymaker.

Omaha pledge Ava Markowski knocked down a buzzer-beating triple to end the third and capped a 13-4 run that gave Pius a 45-38 they would not relinquish in the fourth quarter.

“We have been in a lot of really close games in the last two weeks,” Psota said. “To show some growth and maturity and to get some younger kids in those situations will only benefit us down the road.”

Miller had 17 points, Markowski added 14 and the Bolts got a huge jolt from fresham Ava Fredrick who added 13 points off the bench. Jessa Hueser had 14 for Christian and Pittenger 12 for the the Crusaders.

“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.