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Milford coach Bryce Roth has been through the Class C-1 ringer this year and knows just how tough winning a state championship will be this weekend.

His Eagles only loss is to Class B top-seeded Norris. And during the season, they have defeated Malcolm (third seed), Ogallala (fourth seed) and Holdrege (sixth seed) in the state tournament bracket. In sub-district play, Milford survived eighth-seeded Central City 44-43.

Sheesh.

Surely, beating Central City — ranked in the top-10 in Class C-1 most of the year — would help Milford get a favorable draw at the state tournament? Nope. The Bison were ready again — maybe even better than the first time before the Eagles hung on for a 37-34 first round win on Thursday morning at the Bob Devaney Center.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Roth said. “We made some adjustments to our defense at halftime. And, we shut them out for awhile to get the lead. But, (Central City) coach (Dan) Negus does such a good job. They made some changes that we had to adjust to.”

Such was the case in all of Class C-1 on Thursday. Three of the four game were rematches of previous postseason games. Like it or not, in an effort to get the “best teams” to Lincoln these things will happen. And, in a loaded class in 2026 it was a near certainty.

How good was Class C-1? The teams that survived to Lincoln have a combined record of 186-21, with 11 of those losses coming to each other. Three more 20 win teams did not make the field.

“We wanted (the schedule) we had,” Roth said. “We were fortunate that we got invited to the Nebraska Girls Basketball Showcase to play Ogallala. We have seen really, really good teams. It sharpens you and you get something different from almost every one of those teams we have played.”

Right after Milford won, Gothenburg came back in dramatic fashion to be the lone postseason “loser” in the semifinals. The Swedes have battled injuries the last 45 days and appears to be getting healthier, but are appreciative of their second chance. They lost to Ogallala 66-31 in the C1-10 sub-district final, after winning the first contest between the two on February 10th, 61-58.

Swede coach Tim Strauser said his team just had to buckle down after trailing 44-28 in the third quarter.

“We just had to chip away,” Strauser said. “We knew it would be a game of runs and we knew they were a good team. We just had to continue to play our game and we did that.”

The new life has lifted the Swedes.

“We told our kids after our district final and before we came down here that any of the teams can win it,” Strauser said. “There are just so many great teams and great coaches in our class and they all are putting together game plans that make it tough.

“Our theme is just, ‘Why Not Us’ and let’s just go out and compete.”

Friday’s Semifinals

CLASS A (at Pinnacle Bank Arena)

1:30 PM | Lincoln North Star (25-1) vs. Millard West (21-4): A rematch of a doozy of a 2025 semifinal sees the Navigators as the favorites this time around. North Star got 14 points from KJ Pinchon in their 43-32 win over Millard North. For the two-time champion Wildcats a 3-point flurry from freshman Grace Lucero-Miner helped them pull away Omaha Westside 57-45. Minnesota pledge Kylee Paben had 23 for MW.

3:15 PM | Kearney (21-3) vs. Omaha North (25-4): The Bearcats scored their first win in Lincoln since 2017 on Wednesday by winning the final minute against Lincoln Southwest, 55-51. Libby Province had a steal and made two free throws to put the Cats ahead for good. The top-ranked Vikings of Omaha North were in control from the tip against Westview in a 74-49 win. Justine Tcheuhchoua had 14 points for the Vikings.

CLASS B (at Pinnacle Bank Arena)

6:00 PM | Norris (25-1) vs. Gretna East (21-4): Norris wanted to no part of a slow down game with Blair like their regular season, 37-35 win. So, they took matters into their own hands on Thursday afternoon. The Titans never trailed and sprinted to a 22-4 first quarter lead in their 64-33 win over the Bears. Ize Tidball had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Griffins fought off Sidney 54-41 and head to their second straight title game after they were ahead just 28-27 at the break. Madi Shelburne scored 15 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had five assists for the Griffins. Norris won the regular season matchup on January 9th, 51-35.

7:45 PM | Bennington (26-0) vs. Lincoln Pius X (21-4): Sophomore Macie Reiner scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had seven assists as Bennington pulled away from seventh-seeded Scottsbluff in the second half. The Bearcats stayed close for 16 minutes, but the Badgers outscored Scottsbluff 33-21 after halftime in the 62-42 win. Pius jumped to a 8-0 lead on Beatrice and never trailed in winning 38-24, but the Lady Orange had forced a four-point game at the half. Austen Davis had seven points and 13 rebounds for the Bolts.

CLASS C-1 (at Pinnacle Bank Arena)

9:00 AM | Milford (26-1) vs. Gothenburg (22-4): Top-ranked Milford got 10 points and 18 rebounds from Shayla Rautenberg and 11 points from junior Ashlynn Miller as they held on to beat Central City for the second time in the postseason. Gothenburg came back from down 44-28 in the third quarter for a 70-63 win over conference mate Ogallala behind 32 points and 12 rebounds from Halsey Thomalla.

10:45 AM | Fort Calhoun (25-2) vs. Malcolm (25-4): Fort Calhoun turned in the stunner of Thursday with a 57-56 overtime win over defending champion Lincoln Christian on Isabel Wray’s layup off an out of bounds play with under five seconds left. Dehli Hallberg led the Pioneers with 14 points off the bench. Malcolm used a 12-0 run to extend a 21-19 second quarter lead to 33-19 by the middle of the third quarter to top Holdrege for a second time in the postseason, 56-36. Payton (26) and Halle (22) Dolliver combined for 48 points for the Clippers.

CLASS C-2 (at Bob Devaney Center)

1:30 PM | Pender (26-2) vs. Yutan (21-4): The three-time champion Pendragons shook off Centura with a big fourth quarter on Wednesday, outscoring the Centurions 14-6 to pull away for a hard fought 41-32 win. Hadley Walsh was Hadley Walsh — 21 points and nine rebounds. Yutan got 20 points from Mylee Tichota in a 37-31 win over Hastings St. Cecilia.

3:15 PM | Elkhorn Valley (27-0) vs. Guardian Angels Central Catholic (21-6): Elkhorn Valley continued their unbeaten season with a gritty 42-36 win over Crofton. Cameron Rutjens had 12 points for the Falcons. There was a bit more drama for GACC. Julie Ridder banked in a three with no time left — part of her seven points — to send the Bluejays to overtime with Oakland-Craig where they prevailed 56-48. Bailey Gerths had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the winners.

CLASS D-1 (at Bob Devaney Center)

6:00 PM | Bloomfield (27-0) vs. Sutton (21-7): Unbeaten Bloomfield wasted little time getting out the state tournament jitters. Sophomore Madison Mlady scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Bees 74-53 win where Arapahoe scored the finals 12 points of the game. Sutton got 17 points and 12 rebounds from Miranda Nuss as they flipped a 20-18 halftime deficit into a 48-33 win over Amherst.

7:45 PM | Elm Creek (23-4) vs. Howells-Dodge (20-7): The Buffaloes sputtered in the first half but pulled away in the third quarter with a 12-3 run to open the second half and take control. Junior Kendal Cavanee had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for the winners. Howells-Dodge made three first quarter triples and led 17-5 after eight minutes before cruising to a 51-28 win over Maywood-Hayes Center. Kylie Brichacek scored 12 points and had 12 rebounds for the Jaguars.

CLASS D-2 (at Bob Devaney Center)

9:00 AM | Dundy County Stratton (26-1) vs. Archangels Catholic (18-9): Dundy County Stratton survived. Archangels’ zone flipped a switch. In the Wednesday morning session at Pinnacle Bank Arena, top ranked DCS had to comeback for a 37-36 win after trailing by five points. Emily Schack scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Tigers. Archangels flipped to a 1-3-1 second half defense that Silver Lake couldn’t crack in their 55-33 win where they outscored the Mustangs 23-2 in the third quarter. Whitney Wegener scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Defenders.

10:45 AM | Red Cloud (21-3) vs. Wynot (17-11): Red Cloud pulled away from a 33-31 halftime score to defeat SEM 62-53 getting 27 points and seven rebounds from Josie Faimon in the win. Wynot won a thriller over defending champion Falls City Sacred Heart. When Hailey Wiessler’s potential game-winning basket was ruled after the buzzer on review, the Devils instead dominated overtime for a 54-49 win. Addison Sharpe had 16 points for Wynot.

First Round Notes

REPLAY FIRST: Hailey Wiessler’s potential game-winning shot for Wynot was the first time replay was used in the girls state tournament in a non-championship game. It was the third year that the NSAA, with cooperation from News Channel Nebraska and Striv who stream the games NFHS, has had replay technology available. The technology was used in last year’s boys tournament in a first round game between Norris and Lincoln Pius X.

WILD CARD BLUES: In the first round, only two teams that had previously lost in sub-district or district play advanced to the semifinals. Gothenburg in C-1 over Ogallala and Guardian Angels Central Catholic in overtime over Oakland-Craig. Both teams won sub-district final rematches and wild card teams finished the quarterfinal round 2-10.

FOR THE GIRLS: Just five of the 48 teams that advanced to Lincoln had female head coaches. And of those only two will coach in today’s semifinal — Omaha North’s Michaela Dailey and Elm Creek’s Jadyn Ehresmen. For Ehresmen, who played at Bertrand and Concordia, leading other young women is her passion.

“I think both male and female coaches are extremely talented,” Ehresmen said. “But there is a special connection being a female head coach with high school girls. You can relate to some things. And, this is just a really special group that we have here, too.”

The Buffaloes, who advanced to last year’s D-1 title game, will face Howells-Dodge in the final Class D-1 semifinal at 7:45.

First Round In Pictures

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