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Workin’ for the Weekend

Weekday Wade Coulter and the Gretna East girls basketball team will work the weekend.

Again.

The third-year school is in its second straight Class B state championship game, taking down Norris for the first time in three tries this season with a 45-43 win Friday night in the Class B state semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

It’s not always going to be pretty with Gretna East. In last year’s run to the state final, the Griffins didn’t make it to 40 points in any of their three games. But they have athletes for days, and a fearless style that turns those athletes loose with a ferocious full-court defense.

Thing is, that hadn’t bothered Norris much this year. The Titans beat Gretna East 52-42 on December 23, then 51-35 on January 9.

Gretna East (22-5) hasn’t lost since, with Friday marking its 15th straight win.

“It ain’t pretty, but it’s effective,” said Coulter in beginning to pay his team the biggest compliment he could. “We muck the game up and make it a circus. We fly around. We turn our athletes loose, because we’re not basketball first. 

“We’ve got enough basketball, obviously, to get to the finals, but thank God we’re multi-sport athletes. Because without our soccer kids, without our volleyball kids, without our track kids, we ain’t here, we’re not as deep, we’re not as good.”

The depth paid off in a game where neither team led by more than seven points. The largest lead in the second half was just five, for Norris on a 3-pointer from Kalle Stauffer with 2:17 left in the third period. 

Still Norris led most of the way, thanks to a 12-0 first-half run that gave the Titans their largest lead at 17-10. Gretna East’s only lead of the fourth quarter came on its final bucket, when Madi Shelburne outmuscled a Norris defender for an inbounds pass, spun, and scored with four seconds left.

Shelburne, a UNO soccer commit, missed Gretna East’s first two games against Norris because of soccer commitments. 

She made up for lost time Friday, scoring a career-high 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting and finishing one off her career-best with 10 rebounds while playing a team-high 30 minutes. The 5-foot-10 junior has scored in double figures in seven of her last eight games, including 15 in an opening-round win over Sidney.

“It was fun to finally be able to play and to beat them,” Shelburne said. “This time was so amazing. We just play every play, and we are in it for each other, and we trust each other on and off the court.

Shelburne, averaging 9.4 points per game, was the only Griffin with more than eight points as Gretna East finished 1-for-13 from 3-point range and shot 39% from the floor.

But the Griffins held Norris (23-4) to its second-lowest point total of the season while forcing 17 turnovers and winning the second-chance point battle 11-7 despite being out-rebounded 34-28.

Norris scored two points over the game’s final 3 minutes, 39 seconds.

“I don’t care if we’re up by 20, down by 20, we’re playing a 2-20 basketball team or one of the best two teams in our class all season that’s beaten us twice,” Coulter said. “Make the next play. Trust your teammates. Execute. Do the small things.”

Norris nearly forced overtime on a perfectly executed full-court inbounds play.

With 5.3 seconds left, Alli Bornschlegl caught an inbounds pass at half court and flipped the ball to Marlee Emerson, who was running alone up the left wing. But Emerson’s layup with 1.2 seconds to go rolled off the rim, and time ran out on the Titans’ bid for their first state final since 2021.

Landri Gates led Norris with 11 points. Ize Tidball had 10.

Up next is another Eastern Midlands Conference postseason game. Gretna East will take on unbeaten Bennington at 6:15 Saturday as both programs go for their first state championship.

One more chance to try and dig some gold out of the muck.

Bennington 55, Lincoln Pius X 52

Winners find a way to win, and Bennington hasn’t done any losing so far.

So when the Badgers had their backs up against the wall in the Class B state semifinals, they clawed their way out.

Ending the game on a 10-2 run, Bennington stayed undefeated with a 55-52 win over Lincoln Pius X at Pinnacle Bank Arena to advance to its first-ever girls state basketball championship game.

“It definitely wasn’t our brand of basketball, and I think there’s a lot of energy and pressure in the gym,” said Bennington junior guard Harper Bohaboj. “We could feel it, but we always rise to the occasion. We always talk about that, and really practice that throughout the year.”

The high-flying Badgers were held below 60 points for just the fourth time all season while winning by single digits for only the third time all year. The only other team to stay within single digits was Norris, which did it twice.

So it was Bohaboj’s layup with 1:07 left that gave Bennington (27-0) its first lead since the 1:51 mark of the third period before the Badgers made just enough free throws to hang on.

Bohaboj’s game-high 19 points led Bennington. The junior also had six rebounds and four steals.

Pius X’s only losses this season came to the other three Class B semifinalists — Bennington, Norris, and Gretna East — in addition to falling to Class A finalist Lincoln North Star and Iowa state semifinalist Bishop Heelan.

Kate Miller scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half to lead Pius X, and added 10 rebounds. UNO commit Ava Markowski finished with 15 points and seven boards. 

Bennington led 15-6 five minutes into the game before Pius X rallied for a three-point halftime lead that set the stage for a back-and-forth second half.

“You saw them dig in, and we had to get stops,” Bennington coach John O’Connor said. “The girls kept saying, defense wins championships, and that’s what we had to do to get it done.

Saturday’s Finals

All Games at Pinnacle Bank Arena and live on Nebraska Public Television

CLASS A

1:00 PM | Lincoln North Star (26-1) vs. Omaha North (26-4): Let’s be honest, it’s the one we all wanted. North Star’s only loss in a near perfect season to the Vikings. And the Vikings just a single loss to Omaha Westside at full strength. On Friday, North Star used a late three-point barrage to end the first half and then held Millard West to a single point in the third quarter of a 46-31 win. Ani Leu scored 17 for the Gators. Jo Metoyer scored 21 points and T’Niyah Wilson-Smith scored 11 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as Omaha North pulled away from Kearney for a 59-47 win.

CLASS B

6:15 PM | Gretna East (23-4) vs. Bennington (27-0): Madi Shelburne’s driving bucket from the left hand side of the lane sunk top-seeded Norris 45-43 on Friday night. Shelburne scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Griffs. The unbeaten Badgers got a Harper Bohaboj go-ahead bucket with just under a minute left to lift Bennington a 55-52 win over Pius. Bohaboj finished with 19 points and six rebounds while sophomore Macie Reiner had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

CLASS C-1

11:00 AM | Milford (27-1) vs. Malcolm (27-1): If this one is half as good as the regular season game in Milford — a 66-64 Milford win — you’ll want to get a seat belt for your couch or Pinnacle Bank Arena chair. That game feature 19 3-point makes and just 14 total turnovers. Both teams know exactly what they need to do for success in this one. Milford had 26 points and 26 rebounds from duo Ashlynn Miller and Shayla Rautenberg, but got a big 22 point, five assist effort from Abby Crabtree to help put Gothenburg to rest 63-51. In the other semifinal, Payton Dolliver scored 30 points and big sister Halle had 27 points and 21 rebounds as the Clippers kept Fort Calhoun just far enough away in a 72-59 win.

CLASS C-2

4:15 PM | Pender (27-2) vs. Elkhorn Valley (28-0): Three-time defending champion Pender has yet to be rattled by a pair of slow starts. They have controlled the final eight minutes in each of their first two tournament games. On Friday, it was an 18-6 final frame that stole the semifinal from Yutan. Madalyn Dolliver had 16 points on 5-for-8 3-point shooting and Hadley Walsh added 11 points and 11 rebounds. To keep their unbeaten season alive, Elkhorn Valley had to end the game on a 24-4 run against GACC for a 48-40 win. The Falcons were down 36-24 with just under four minutes left in the third quarter before flipping a switch. Cam Rutjens scored 13 points and had nine rebounds for EV, now in the C-2 final for a second straight season.

CLASS D-1

8:15 PM | Bloomfield (28-0) vs. Howells-Dodge (21-7): It wasn’t pretty for Bloomfield and that was mostly because of a fantastic defensive effort from Sutton. But, the Bees made just enough plays in the last 120 seconds to pull away from a 33-32 lead for a 44-38 win over the Fillies. The Queen Bees got 15 points and 13 rebounds from Madison Mlady and 13 points, five rebounds and seven steals from sister Kennedy. Battle tested Howells-Dodge, with seven losses but unbeaten in Class D-1 advanced with a 44-31 win over Elm Creek as sophomore Brynn Throener scored 12 points and had four rebounds.

CLASS D-2

9:00 AM | Dundy County Stratton (27-1) vs. Wynot (18-11): Dundy County Stratton will go for their first state basketball title on Saturday morning and Wynot, well, they will not be going for their first. The Tigers continued their dream season with a dominating 45-25 win over Archangels Catholic. Abi Spargo had 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for DCS. Wynot, despite a 13-11 record headed to the postseason, will go for its ninth state title in 15 tries to open championship Saturday. The state volleyball champs got 19 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks from Kena Oligmueller to advance.

Semifinal Notes

SISTER ACT(S): You’ll hear plenty about the Dolliver sisters in the Class C-1 and Class C-2 games. Halle and Payton for Malcolm. Madalyn and Mayci for Pender. But, another set of sisters will go for a state titles in Class D-1.

For Bloomfield, Kennedi and Madyson Mlady have led the Queen Bees to an unbeaten record and berth in the D-1 final. In their 44-38 win over Sutton on Friday night they combined for 28 points, 18 rebounds, eight steals and six assists. Not a bad night.

Bees coach Conner Wilson said the daughters of Nebraska 8-Man Hall of Fame running back Travis Mlady, have played a bunch of basketball together. With Bloomfield up one late in the game Kennedi scored on a perfectly execute pick-and-roll.

“I think the stress kind of released for all of us,” Wilson said. “They finally smiled after that play. It was just such a struggle all night. We shot poorly. After that it kind of pushed us over the hump, finally.”

Will probably miss some here, but there will be more. Howells-Dodge will counter with sisters Brynn and Kenadie Throener in the Class D-1 game. And facing the Dolliver’s in Class C-2 are the Werner’s — sophomore Kyndal and freshman twins Kayton and Olivia.

In Class D-2, track standouts Abi and Clara Spargo of DCS will try to lead the Tigers to their first state title. For Wynot, senior Jordan and freshman Makenzie play key minutes for the Blue Devils.

Friday At The Bank

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