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Ogallala’s Truth

Brash and bold, Ogallala’s boys basketball team — the state’s only unbeaten — would just like you to come watch them play the game they love.

The Indians attacking, up-and-down, pressing game is played mostly with coach Carter Brown’s five starters on the floor. For a 9:00 AM tip in Class C-1, it also required a 4:30 Mountain Time shoot around at Nebraska Wesleyan’s Snyder Arena on Thursday morning.

And, the Kansas State Five.

“We had a shoot around today at 5:30 this morning,” Brown said. “First thing we do is run two sprints — we call them the K-State Five. They aren’t just a down and back sprint. It’s five down and back’s for each one. We ran two.”

It seemed to get the juices flowing for the Indians just fine as they ran Syracuse out of John Cook Arena with ruthless precision and Sawyer Smiths’s triple (almost quadruple) double of 23 points, 12 rebounds, 10 steals and nine assists.

Smith, you can tell, is on a business trip.

“I think our defensive effort was great today,” he said. “I thought we forced a bunch of steals in the first half and then some guys hit some big shots. We are going to have to keep doing that.”

The game on Friday was tied 7-7 and then it wasn’t. The Indians forced 24 turnovers and it was 39-15 after 16 minutes.

Step one. Ogallala 77, Syracuse 43.

Yes, there are things left to do for this Ogallala group.

“This wasn’t our goal. We are taking it one day and one game at a time,” said Brown, who played on three state tournament teams for the Indians, the final one losing to Auburn in the 2020 state finals. “These guys have a mission and you won’t see a celebration yet. We are excited to move on, but we aren’t where we want to be yet.”

There is an interesting history with this town and this team pursuing their own history. They own one of the state’s most historic wins — Ogallala 84, Wahoo 68 — which ended a 114-game Warrior win streak. But, still a title eludes them. There have been just four state finals appearances.

Last year the Indians came to Lincoln with a 24-1 record and a title contender. But Smith severely sprained his ankle during practice on the trip out and they lost to Doniphan-Trumbull, 57-45.

The same arch enemies are here this week.

Ashland-Greenwood, who delivered a 50-20 semifinal gut-punch when Smith was a freshman, is on the other side. So, too, is Auburn and coach Jim Weeks who ended Brown’s playing career in the 2020 state finals. They face each other at 10:45.

But, you get a feeling this Ogallala group has what it takes to turn the tables. To do what no other Indian team has ever done. With Smith and his band mates — Lincoln Gillen, Rylan Gilmore, Edan Cain and Tanner DeCastro — who all scored in double figures on Friday, “The Truth” may set Ogallala free.

“We just have a group that is willing to do so many things that some others aren’t willing to do,” Brown said. “They play so hard, it is such an unselfish group. We have a hungry group of kids that are set on doing something special together.”

For Carter Brown, watching from the sidelines has been less work and more fun.

“It’s been an absolute blast. Coming down here was almost bittersweet because the end is close,” he said. “They have waited 365 days for this given the circumstances of last year. Going on this journey with them, I have never met or been around a more deserving group.”

As for “The Truth” so perfectly stitched on Brown’s quarter-zip and his players shooting shirts? The Indians hope to keep showing you more of it.

“It’s who we are and what we are about. It’s how hard we play and how well we play together and everything else that goes into that. That’s what it is — who we are and what we are about. That’s all I am going to say.”

Yes, these Indians they’ll just let you watch their basketball do the talking.

Friday’s Semifinals

CLASS A (at Pinnacle Bank Arena)

1:30 PM | Omaha Westside (24-2) vs. Lincoln Southwest (22-4): Omaha Westside’s title hopes stayed alive as they came back from down 48-33 to start the fourth quarter against Lincoln High for a 61-58 win by scoring the final six points of the game in the last 56 seconds. London Dada had 18 points for the Warriors. High flying Lincoln Southwest put on an offensive clinic in the second half of an 81-71 win over Millard North. They scored 47 second half points after trailing by eight at the break and got 73 points for twins Uzziah (26) and Makkiah (21) Sanders and Dakari Wilson (26).

3:15 PM | Bellevue West (21-5) vs. Papillion-LaVista South (18-6): After a first round loss to Millard North last year, Bellevue West is back in the semifinals for the eighth time in nine years after their 79-68 win over Papio. The Birds outscored the Monarchs 48-30 in the second half and got 24 points from Brayden Mauro. Papio South extended the career of head coach Joel Hueser for one more day in their 57-48 win over Creighton Prep. Levi Webb and Connor Falkinburg each scored 17 points for the Titans.

CLASS B (at Pinnacle Bank Arena)

6:00 PM | Omaha Skutt Catholic (25-2) vs. Elkhorn North (18-5): In looking to win their fourth consecutive Class B title, the Skyhawks slowly dispatched Cinderella Lincoln Pius X. Skutt led 24-17 at the break and the Thunderbolts cut the lead to 34-29 after three. George Ziebel scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the winners. Elkhorn North will get one more shot at Omaha Skutt who beat them 54-43 in the regular season. On Friday, the Wolves jumped to a 29-14 halftime lead and cruised past Wahoo getting 17 points and six rebounds from Kellen Murphy.

7:45 PM | Norris (23-2) vs. Scottsbluff (22-4): Second-seeded Norris made just 10-of-24 free throws and 3-of-21 3-point shots, but got Bennington in the paint as they made 22-of-30 2-points shots in their 63-55 win. The Titans held off a late Badger rally and 26 points from Blaize Jung to advance. Norris got 19 points from Shane Holen. Should Scottsbluff shoot like they did on Thursday night for two more days, it may take a small miracle to stop them. The Bearcats shot 55 percent from the field and a blistering 12-for-21 from long distance in a 76-53 win over Gretna East. Nate Kelley needed just 15 shots to score 20 points as Scottsbluff put five players in double figures.

CLASS C-1 (at Pinnacle Bank Arena)

9:00 AM | Ogallala (26-0) vs. Douglas County West (22-6): An opening technical foul for dunking in pre-game warmups didn’t deter Ogallala from much during their opening round 77-43 win over Syracuse. The Indians led by 24 at the break and their five starters scored 74 of their points — all in double figures. DC West never trailed in getting off to a 12-0 start against Grand Island Central Catholic before winning their first state tournament game in school history, 49-41. Lane Smith score 14 points and Trey Olsen added 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

10:45 AM | Ashland-Greenwood (26-1) vs. Auburn (25-1): Ashland-Greenwood won their 11th state tournament game in their last 13 tries with a 65-53 win over Lincoln Christian. They Jays shot 63 percent from the field with 19 points from Derek Tonjes and 18 from Cooper Westerhold. Ryan Guenther’s driving bucket with 13 seconds left in overtime lifted Auburn to a 41-40 overtime win over Gothenburg. The Swedes had taken the lead on Kash Koehn’s triple with 1:01 left in a game that went to overtime tied at 37. Guenther had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead Auburn.

CLASS C-2 (at Bob Devaney Center)

1:30 PM | Yutan (23-2) vs. Norfolk Catholic (23-4): A slow first quarter start didn’t deter top-seeded Yutan from pulling away for a 62-40 win over EMF in the opening round. The Chieftains trailed early, but led 36-18 at half as Ryan McGuire scored 20 and grabbed 18 rebounds. Yutan’s slow start was nothing compared to Norfolk Catholic who was 0-10 from the field AND the free throw line in the first quarter yet still fought back for a 48-40 win over North Bend Central. Gavin Schutt had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

3:15 PM | Archbishop Bergan (26-1) vs. Freeman (20-5): Bergan Ball is back at state and they won’t be surprising anyone this year. The Knights sprinted to a 10-point halftime lead an then outscored Pender — looking for their first ever state tournament win — 33-15 in the second half for a 71-43 win. Cale Sheets and Gavin Baker each had 18 points. They get Freeman — the top-seed they shocked last year — who somehow, someway defeated Valentine 57-56 in overtime on Easton Buss’ full court layup with 0.8 seconds left. Four Falcons were in double figures.

CLASS D-1 (at Bob Devaney Center)

6:00 PM | Howells-Dodge (24-3) vs. Elm Creek (22-5): Howells-Dodge flipped a 23-20 halftime deficit against Fullerton with a 22-10 third quarter and then held the Warriors to just four points in the fourth quarter for a 57-37 win. Andre Martin led four players in double figures with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Elm Creek avenged a prior loss to North Platte St. Pat’s as they scored the last 10 points of the game for a 55-46 win over the Irish. Quin Oberg was a machine for the Buffs scoring 30 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

7:45 PM | Lutheran High Northeast (23-4) vs. McCool Junction (20-7): Ian McDonald scored with 24 seconds left to cap a 13-2 fourth quarter for LHNE that forced overtime. Then, the Eagles outscored Mead 8-5 in the extra session for a 47-44 win. Cole Lawless scored 16 points to lead LHNE. In a battle of the Omaha World-Herald’s top two teams, McCool Junction won a Crossroads Conference rubber match with East Butler. After the Tigers trimmed McCool’s 24-17 halftime lead to 37-36 after three quarters, the Mustangs took over late with an 11-2 fourth quarter run. Colby Yates had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the winners.

CLASS D-2 (at Bob Devaney Center)

9:00 AM | Elgin Public / Pope John (24-3) vs. Guardian Angels Central Catholic (16-11): Top-seeded EPPJ hung on as Pleasanton could not get a shot off in their last two possessions of the game giving the top-seeded Wolfpack a 46-44 win. Jarek Erickson scored 16 points for the Pack and Brennan Linder scored 23 for the Dawgs to lead all scorers. GACC watched Deshler cut a 48-40 lead to 50-49 on an Easton Nash triple with 22 seconds left, but held on for a 54-50 win. Luke Guenther scored 19 points for the Bluejays.

10:45 AM | Archangels Catholic (25-2) vs. St. Mary’s (26-2): Archangels had six players scores between six and 10 points as they pulled away from Falls City Sacred Heart 49-28. The Defenders outscored the Irish 30-6 in the second half. Ethan Wieseler and Brendan Johannes led the way with 10 points apiece. In the nightcap, St. Mary’s jumped to a 30-15 halftime lead against Wynot and cruised to 56-42 win in a rematch of the 2025 title game. Gage Hedstrom scored 19 points for the Cardinals.

First Round In Pictures

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