High School Tourney Time Part 5
I really think this is one of the best weekends out of the year for basketball around these parts. The boys tourney seems to notch it up a little bit and with March Madness happening all around the country, there is a certain buzz in the air.
Let’s take a look at the Class A matchups:
#1 Bellevue West vs. #8 Millard North:
Bellevue West is the two time defending champions are the odds on favorite to take the title again. The thunderbirds are led by Jeff Martin who averages 17.5 points/game. Also Jake Meyer dominates on the inside with almost 10 rebounds/game. The Mustangs are at state for the first time since 1991. It is very hard to comprehend a large school like Millard North missing the tourney for 15 years and making only its5th appearance all time. The Mustangs are led by Roy O’Neil who shoots almost 60 percent from the field and Adam Muehling who can shoot the 3 pretty well. In the end though Bellevue West will be too much for the Mustangs and take this one easily.
#4 Lincoln Southeast vs. #5 Omaha Bryan:
One of these teams will continue a long standing tradition of losing in the state tourney. One for its city and one for the school. Lincoln Southeast, one of the powerhouses in high school athletics in the state of Nebraska, has won a state title in almost every sport there is to win except boys basketball. They have been runner-up as recently as 2002 and 2003 and 4 times overall but have yet to be able to put together 3 straight wins to take home the title. Omaha Bryan on the other hand is looking to break a long drought by Omaha public schools winning the class A boys state title. The streak has reached 13 years since the last winner, Omaha Benson, in 1992. For Omaha Bryan, this is only the4th time they have qualified for the state tourney in school history. Avery Tyler leads Bryan in scoring with just over 17 points/game. For Lincoln Southeast, its all about Texas recruit Matt Hill. The big man in the middle could be the most dominating force in the tourney and that should be enough for Southeast to take this game.
#2 Lincoln Northeast vs. #7 Kearney:
The other dominating force in this tourney is Lincoln Northeast’s Tyler Bullock. He averages 26 points/game which is about 5 point/game more than his nearest competitor. Northeast is no stranger to state titles as they have the second most out of all the boys schools in the state with 12. Kearney, however, has no state titles in their 33 years of qualifying for the state tournament. Don’t expect Kearney’s luck to change this year as Bullock will be too much for them. Look for Lincoln Northeast to move on.
#3 Omaha Central vs. #6 Omaha Creighton Prep:
The other team trying to break the Omaha public school streak is Omaha Central. Prep is a private school in Omaha. Central is starting to reassert itself as one of the better teams in the state qualifying for the state tourney the past 4 years. Central has not been to the finals though in over 30 years. Central is led by Rodney Grace, who rebounds the ball and can shoot well from the field. The team that eliminated Central from last years state tourney in the semifinals was Creighton Prep. Prep, who was last years state runner up, looks to continue it’s dominance over Central as they defeated them earlier in the year by 1 point. I think though, that Central will exact revenge and win this one over Prep.
In the semis we will have Bellevue West taking on Lincoln Southeast. It is hard to understand how Southeast has fallen to a #4 seed with such a dominating force as Matt Hill. It seems to me though that he’s the whole team and if hedoesn’t get it going, Southeast isn’t that good. If Bellevue West’s Jake Meyer can hang with Matt Hill, West should take this game. In the other semi final we have Omaha Central vs. Lincoln Northeast. Central lost all 3 of their games this year to quality opponents while Northeast dropped their 2 games against very winnable opponents and both losses were late in the year. Northeast’s schedule though, was much easier than Central’s. In this match up I’ll take Central in a close one. In the final I think the 2 time defending state champs will be to much for Central andBellevue West will win their 3 straight.
Let’s take a look at Class B:
#1 Aurora vs. #8 Norris:
#1 seed Aurora got in the state tourney as a wild card as they lost to Crete in districts. Aurora is led by Joe Broekemeier. He scores 17 points/game and is pretty good from behind the arc. Norris, only 12-10 on the year, benefited from Lincoln Pius X upset of defending state champion Beatrice in the district semifinal to take the district title over the Thunderbolts. Aurora, with already taking their regular season match up over Norris, should have no trouble moving onto the second round.
#4 Ralston vs. #5 Holdrege:
Ralston came up big when it counted at the end of the year. It won all 3 games in a very tough district, including Omaha Skutt Catholic and Gretna. Holdrege played a very weak schedule with only 6 teams they played being above .500 at the end of the year. Holdrege was only 3-3 in those games. Ralston should have no trouble with Holdrege to move onto the semis.
#2 Omaha Skutt Catholic vs. #7 Gering:
Skutt should probably be the #1 team in the tourney but faltered in the district semifinal vs. Ralston. As a result of their loss in districts they took the2nd wild card. By them taking the 2nd wildcard by mere tenths of a point, the defending state champ Beatrice Orangemen were shut out of the state tourney. Omaha Skutt is starting to assert themselves as a basketball power in class B. They have qualified for the tourney 3 times and in their most recent visit, 2003 got to the semifinals. TheSkyhawks are led by one of the better three point and free throw shooters in class B. Matt Foster can shoot a little over 43 percent from behind the arc and over 85 percent from the charity stripe. In fact, OmahaSkutt has 3 of the top 5 free throw shooters in Class B. Gering falls into the western Nebraska stigma, not a lot of competition means weak teams leading into the state tourney. Skutt should have an easy time with Gering.
#3 Crete vs. #6 Blair:
Crete could be the best team in the Class B field at the #3 seed. They gave #1 seed Aurora their only 2 losses of the season and are riding a 7 game win streak coming into the tournament. Blair benefited from a very weak district in qualifying for state. But Blair does have an impressive win on their schedule. They gave a very talentedC1 Bishop Neumann team their only loss of the year. The Bears have also hung tough with Class B’s elite teams this year. In the end though I think Crete will be victorious.
In the semis we will have Aurora and Ralston squaring off. Ralston could be the hottest team right now coming into the tourney and I think they will pull off the upset over a paper team in Aurora. Crete takes onSkutt in the other semifinal. Skutt’s overall solid play should be enough to get by Crete. In the finals I like Skutt to take the whole thing over Ralston.
Let’s look at Class C1:
#1 seed Wahoo Bishop Neumann was last years state runner up and is looking to go back to the state title game for the 5th time in 6 years. Bishop Neumann takes on Boys Town in the first round. Neumann should have no trouble with Boys Town, as they took all 3 regular season matches. Neumann should also have no trouble taking out the winner of the Adams Central/Norfolk Catholic match up. On the other side of the bracket #2 seed Pierce looks to be the favorite to move to the title game over #3 seed Louisville. In the title game expect Bishop Neumann to continue their dominance of ClassC1 with their 3rd title in the past 5 years.
Let’s take a look at Class C2:
Aquinas is the #1 seed but the defending state champ is #2 seed Ravenna. Aquinas has been up to the challenge all year. Their only 2 losses are to C1 Wahoo Bishop Neumann and they have fared well against a beating handily a Class B team and one of the top Class D1 schools. But this is Ravenna’s title to lose. Ravenna actually is probably one of the top 5 teams in the state regardless of class. Ravenna’s only loss this year came against Bellevue West. Yes that’s right, a Class C2 team actually played a Class A team. You may have remembered the coverage it was getting in the papers in late January. Ravenna actually was in command of the game and dominating Bellevue West in the first half and on the Thunderbirds home floor. West proved to be the better team by 4 points on that day but Ravenna proved that they could play with anybody, anywhere. In the end Ravenna should have no trouble repeating their title over Aquinas.
Now onto Class D1:
The #1 seed is last years state runner up, Humphrey St. Francis. The #2 seed is the only undefeated team in any class, Axtell. They are having a dream season, having not qualified for the state tournament in 20 years. The #3 seed is Leigh and they only have 3 losses, 2 coming from #1 seed Humphrey St. Francis. They too are having a dream season making the tournament for the first time in over 25 years. The #4 seed is Cambridge and they are formidable as well. Their only 3 losses came toArapahoe and Wauneta -Palisade, who is the #5 seeded team. This will probably be the toughest final to pick as the top 4 seeds are all pretty equal. Cambridge was the 2004 champ and I think they are up to the task in taking out Humphrey St. Francis as the top seed. On the other side of the bracket I likeAxtell to make the final. In the final I think Cambridge will end Axtell’s dream season with a loss in the state final.
Finally we look at Class D2:
Last years champ (Lindsey Holy Family) and runner up (Loomis) are both not in the field so we will get some new blood in there this year. The #1 seed is Ewing. Ewing made it to the semifinals last year and were runners up in 2001. The #2 seed is Spencer-Naper. They qualified for the state title game 3 years in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003. They took the title in ‘02 and ’03 and were runners up in ’01. Look for both teams to make the final and Spencer-Naper taking the title over Ewing. Spencer-Naper holds the season series over Ewing 2-1 and should win their 3rd title in the past 6 years.
So there you have it. Your state champs will be Bellevue West, Omaha Skutt, Bishop Neumann, Ravenna, Cambridge, and Spencer-Naper.
The Comments
Mr. Wilson March 9, 2006 at 7:31am
Awesome preview, D.M.B. I look forward to seeing how your analysis shakes out.
D.M.B. March 13, 2006 at 12:22am
The state tourney has completed and I have to say that this was one of the most exciting state tournies I have ever watch unfold. Surprises, upsets and streak breakers.
Omaha Central won in Class A over Bellevue West. For the first time in 31 years they took home a state title and also broke the 13 year drought of Omaha public schools winning the title.
In class B, Omaha Skutt took home the title over Holdredge. It has been an impressive run for the Skyhawks boys. They won a state title this year in football, wrestling and boys basketball.
In class C1 it was the darling Boys Town, the 8th seed, winning the title over Lousiville. First they shocked Bishop Neumann in the first round but also took down powerful, Norfolk Catholic. Now seeds are based on NSAA points, not the rankings and Boys Town was ranked 5th going into the tourney, but to see what they did is nothing short of amazing. This was their first title since 1966. It is unknown at this time wheather Boys Town is the first #8 seed to win the tournament.
In Class C2 It was Aquinas over Ravenna. Another shocker here because Ravenna was being talked about being one of the better teams regarless of class in the state. Aquinas used a 18-8 4th quarter to put down Ravenna.
In D1 it was Humphrey St. Francis over Axtell. This was the only blowout of the day. Axtell was never really in this game and St. Francis took this one easily.
In class D2 it was Ewing over Spencer-Naper.
Overall 5 of the 6 games were fantastic. 5 games decided by 6 points or less and 2 going into over time. (Class A and B) Which brings me to a point.
It’s time to see some sort of shot clock in HS basketball. There is nothing more boring than watching a team that is up by a couple points with 4 mins left to go throw the ball around with no intention of scoring. As a result of the stalling, the team that is behind is forced to foul and the last 4 mins of each game becomes a foul/free throw contest. That is not good basketball. Even a :45/:40 second shot clock would be good for the game.
As for me...well...I stunk. I did get 8 of the 12 finalists correct, which is on par, but I only picked 1 state title winner correctly (Omaha Skutt) The combo of Boys Town shocking everyone, Ravenna not being able seal the deal in C2 and picking upsets when a more conventional approach is necessary in the lower brackets made for a miserable taste in my mouth heading into the spring season.