Neligh-Oakdale senior Clayton Anderson hit two of the biggest 3-pointers of his career Thursday afternoon to help lead the Warriors to their first state-tournament victory in 44 years.
The Warriors defeated Amherst 51-46 in the first round of the Class C2 state tournament, advancing to Friday's 2 p.m. semifinal against Hastings St. Cecelia. The win guarantees Neligh-Oakdale will play on Saturday, either in the 9 a.m. third-place game or the 4:30 p.m. championship. The Warriors struggled offensively for much of the game, but they came alive when it mattered. "At the half, we told the kids to get down hill. We had to get paint touches," coach Frank Gade said. "When we get paint touches - then we get that kick - that shooting percentage is going to go up a lot. That's when Clayton came in and hit those two big 3s." Down by four in the final quarter, Anderson hit a trey to pull within one point at 34-33. Senior Tyson Belitz, who led the Warriors with 20 points, then knocked in a shot to give Neligh-Oakdale the 35-34 advantage. A trip to the free-throw line by Belitz made it a two-point lead. "At the timeout before I hit my first one, coach talked to us and told us we had to get down hill," Anderson said. "So we got the ball down to Chris (Bentley) down low. Chris turned to make a move and he turned. I was clapping for him, and he finally saw me. Next thing I knew I had the ball in my hands and my instinct was to just shoot the ball. That's what I did." Amherst wouldn't give up though and regained the lead. That's when Anderson responded with his second trey of the game for the 39-37 lead that the Warriors never relinquished. "Being a senior and that experience is helpful," he said. "Austin played a heck of a game. He started us off and I think he had the first three or four points tonight and grabbed some tough rebounds." Senior Grant White knocked in another 3 to make it 42-37. Amherst still didn't go away and pulled within two points with just 44 seconds left, but Belitz connected on three final free throws to seal the five-point win. Neligh-Oakdale proudly sent its boys to state in enthusiastic fashion on Wednesday with a pep rally at the high school.
Students from West Ward joined their older schoolmates at the pep rally. The rally started off with the school song, followed by a performances from the dance team. The students heard a entertaining special message from Scott Poese of KBRX in O'Neill. Coach Frank Gade and his seniors said a few words and the team then made their way to Lincoln. See below for a full gallery of the day. On Saturday, March 4, the Elkhorn Valley Wrestling Club had nine members travel to O’Neill to compete in the Nebraska USA Wrestling District 3 Tournament. This tournament is an option for any wrestler in the club; however, wrestlers must be prepared to spend the day in O’Neill as there is a possibility of working through a very large bracket.
Nebraska is divided into eight districts in order to qualify for the state tournament and District 3 is one of the largest districts, comprised of 22 counties. There were a total of 455 wrestlers who competed at this particular tournament. In order to qualify for the State Tournament, wrestlers must place in the top four of their weight class. Qualifiers this year are Malachi Tegeler, Wyatt Nierodzik, Hunter Bennett, Adam Miller, and Trigg Bennett. All five of the wrestlers are now eligible to compete in Grand Island at the State Tournament, which is held on March 17-19 at the Heartland Event Center. Malachi Tegeler competed in the 5th -6th grade division at 90 pounds. He defeated Coby Higgins of Western Edge by pin in three minutes and 39 seconds. He then pinned Eric Slusarski of Columbus in three minutes and 56 seconds. Malachi would then face Dylan Hurlburt of Ord for the championship match. Malachi was able to pin him in a quick match that lasted one minute and two seconds, which would send Malachi home with 1st place. Wyatt Nierodzik competed in the 3rd-4th grade division at 80 pounds. Wyatt defeated Grace Longsdorf of Neligh-Oakdale by pin in 52 seconds. He then defeated Aiden Ritter of St. Paul 10-7. Wyatt then lost 1-7 to Aden Pochop of Battle Creek, but his hard work earned him 2nd place for the day. Trigg Bennett competed in the PreK-K division 39-40 pounds. Trigg defeated Darwin Ortez of Norfolk 19-3 and Tommy Thompson of Ord 11-8. Trigg then lost to Cason Hoefer of Neligh-Oakdale 16-3 and Trigg received 2nd place for the day. Hunter Bennett competed in the 7th-8th grade division at 95 pounds. Hunter was defeated in his first match of the day 1-2 by Gavin Dozler from Boone Central. Hunter then pinned Norman Grothe from Elgin Wolfpack and then defeated Tommy Klemesrud of Western Edge 13-2. Hunter then faced Gavin Dozler of Boone Central again for the 3rd-4th place match. Hunter was able to defeat him 5-0 and received 3rd place. Adam Miller competed in the 7th-8th grade division at 110 pounds. Adam pinned Tyson Rix of Neligh-Oakdale in a quick 42 seconds. He then pinned Jed Jones of Twin River in two minutes and one second. Adam then faced Drake Janssen of V Kids and was also able to pin him in just one minute and 39 seconds. For the last match of the day, Adam fell to Rylee Iburg of Columbus and Adam received 2nd place. Pictured are the Qualifiers (L to R): Hunter Bennett, Trigg Bennett, Adam Miller, Malachi Tegeler and Wyatt Nierodzik. For the first time in 26 years, Neligh-Oakdale is headed to the state tournament thanks to its three-headed monster on offense.
The 1,000-point career scoring mark is an incredible feat in high school hoops. On average, a four-year starter would have to average double-digit scoring each season to just hit the mark. Fortunately for Neligh-Oakdale, they have three players that have hit the legendary mark to lead them into the team’s first state tournament since 1991. Grant White, Tyson Belitz and Alex Kerkman lead the high-scoring Warriors into the tournament after a season that saw the team go 24-3. Each player is capable of scoring in a variety of ways. White has made his mark from downtown, hitting 86 shots from beyond the arc at a rate of 43 percent. Belitz uses his length and strong ball-handling skills to move into the paint to score, often drawing contact to get to the free-throw line. Kerkman, the tallest of the three, is a mismatch waiting to happen. He is tall enough and quick enough to get inside on smaller defenders and has enough range to connect from outside. However, none of the three will take total credit for leading the team to success. “I think we all just play off of each other really well,” said Belitz. The trio knows that, while they get the glory for lighting up the scoreboard, none of it would be worth it if their teammates didn’t contribute unselfishly. “Chris (Bentley) might not score a lot, but he moves the ball a lot. Austin (Rice) gets a lot of good boards,” said Kerkman. “Chris shot one shot last game. He doesn’t care about points, he just wants to win.” Belitz added, “Clayton’s been playing really big minutes lately. He makes a big impact when he comes in. He’s always hitting timely shots to keep it close or help us get the game out of hand.” White agreed and said the entire team is key, regardless of who makes the baskets. “Knowing you have guys that can come off the bench and help like they do, it helps a lot,” he said. That team-first mentality has set the Warriors up to potentially make history. “We have a chance to do something really special,” said coach Frank Gade. “They know that and understand it.” The end goal for Neligh-Oakdale is to finish as state champions for the first time in school history. Only twice have the Warriors found themselves in the finals - 1923 and 1928. As a matter of fact, no team from Neligh-Oakdale has earned a win at the tournament since 1973 when the Warriors took down Oakland in the opening round. Needless to say, there is a lot of excitement surrounding Neligh-Oakdale’s upcoming trip to Lincoln. With excitement often comes nerves. However, that’s not the case for the confident Warriors. “We were pretty nervous before the West Holt game just because we had played them two times,” said Belitz. “Now we’ve won 12 or 13 in a row, so we are pretty confident coming in. Watching on film, they are definitely beatable.” In this case, “they” refers to N-O’s first-round opponent, Amherst. The Broncos find themselves in the tournament for the third-straight year. When looking at the film, Gade said he saw a lot of his own team in Amherst. “They have a couple of kids who are kind of like Tyson and Grant, honestly,” he said. “They have one kid who averages 19 and is basically a left-handed Grant. They have another kid on the inside. He can go outside but does most of his damage on the inside.” Despite not meeting the Broncos all year, the similarities between his squad and Amherst have made it easy for Gade and his staff to gameplan. As with most successful coaches, however, he hasn’t changed much of his approach simply because of the circumstances of the game. “We’re going to try and do the same stuff we always do,” he said. “We’re not changing a whole lot of stuff. At this point, you really can’t. We’ve been winning basketball games all year long. There’s no reason to change now.” As if there was any question whether Gade’s team was ready for the challenge ahead of them in Lincoln still, one of the 1,000-point trio summed up the Warriors’ focus perfectly. “Our plan has been since third grade to get here,” said White. “We’ve been working since then, nonstop pretty much, just to get where we are. Now we’re here.” The Warriors will kick off their quest for the schools’ first state title on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. against Amherst at Lincoln Southeast High School. Clearwater-Orchard fans may find the upcoming youth state wrestling tournament has a familiar sound to it.
Keaton Thiele will represent the Cyclone youth wrestling program at the youth state tournament on March 17-19 in Grand Island. He finished runner up in his bracket to qualify. Keaton is the younger brother of Clay Thiele, Clearwater-Orchard's representative at the 2017 Nebraska State Wrestling Tournament in February. Along with Thiele, Ethan Kester, Logan Kester and Daley Bearinger also competed at the district meet. The Neligh-Oakdale wrestling club qualified 14 wrestlers from the District Three Tournament in O'Neill, the most in program history, on March 4. They will compete at the state tournament in Grand Island on March 17-19. Neligh-Oakdale came away with five district champions, three district runner-ups, four third-place finishers and two fourth-place finishers.
Cason Hoefer, Sam Hemenway, Austin Rudolph, Aiden Kuester and Brock Kester each came away as district champions. District runner-ups were Macoy Martensen, Andrew Henery, and Caleb Payne. Nathan Juarez, Haiden Sleister, Dawson Kaup, and Colton Klabenes each took third. Corbin Hoefer and Tanner Martensen rounded out the state qualifiers, finishing fourth. The district meet had up to 32-man brackets for these wrestlers to navigate through. Each wrestler needed to medal in the top four to qualify for state. Wrestlers were not separated into classes, so they competed against anyone their age and weight irregardless the size of school they attend. The state brackets will be 32-man brackets from a total of eight wrestling districts. The Neligh-Oakdale club is coached by Trent Hoefer, Eric Henn, and Scott Kester. With Neligh-Oakdale preparing for their first tournament in 26 years, the student section is preparing to come out in force.
On Thursday, all students are encouraged to wear a Halloween costume to the Warriors game agains Amherst. On Friday, the theme will be nerdy/geeky. On Saturday, all students should dress in tropical attire. After fighting back to within two points, the Wolfpack's season came to an end Thursday afternoon at the state tournament.
Elgin Public/Pope John lost 34-24 to Heartland in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Both squads struggled from the floor for much of the game. The Huskies led just 9-2 after one quarter of play. The scoring picked up slightly in the second quarter, with Heartland extending their lead to 21-10 at the break. Allyson Wemhoff scored eight of EPPJ's 10 points in the opening quarter, with the only other two coming from Calli Krebs. "We were a little tense. I mean we hadn't played for two weeks," said coach Randy Eisenhauer. "We just couldn't get things to go. We had people open." In the second half, the Wolfpack came out strong, holding Heartland to just two points to make it a 23-20 game entering the final frame. Once there, EPPJ had their chances but were never able to connect. Wemhoff fouled out with just under a minute to go, seriously hindering the comeback attempt as the Huskies finished out the game on free throws. The loss ends the Wolfpack's season at 19-5. History was made Saturday night in Elgin.
After making an early exit at the subdistrict tournament at the hands of North Central, the postseason hopes of the Elgin Public/Pope John girls basketball team hung in balance. The team had to await the results of the district finals to see if it would qualify for the state tournament as a wildcard. Fortunately, when the final results were entered on Saturday night, Wolfpack fans got the news they wanted. EPPJ was in the state basketball tournament for the first time since the two teams joined forces. “After losing in subdistricts, we were a little nervous until I found out that all five teams won that we needed to win,” said Wolfpack head coach Randy Eisenhauer. The Wolfpack qualified for the first time in team history. However, it is important to note that the City of Elgin is certainly no stranger to the postseason. Most recently, Pope John’s girls earned runner-up after the 2008 season. Elgin Public holds the city’s only state championship, thanks to the 1988 Eagle squad. The Wolfpack will head to Lincoln with the intentions of adding to that legacy and will need to be focused. “I expect that the girls will go down to Lincoln and will be ready to compete. We have talked all year about having the energy and excitement every time you step on the floor. I don’t see that being a problem this week,” said Eisenhauer. While the trip to the state tournament is a unique time of year for EPPJ, Eisenhauer said his team will treat the tournament like any other game. “We practiced all of last week in the mindset that we were making it. This week we have been approaching practice like any other week and doing the things that we need to do to get better,” he said. The Wolfpack will lean on their senior leadership, just as they have all season. “I have to say our captains are great leaders, along with our seniors. They are a great group of kids to be associated with and be able to coach,” Eisenhauer said. That leaderships includes a senior class consisting of Amy Nelson, Jordan Mescher, Baylee Wemhoff and Liz Selting, all of whom have combined for 27.9 points a game. Junior Lydia Behnk adds a presence down low, averaging 8.4 points a game and 6.5 rebounds a game. Allyson Wemhoff, while just a sophomore, is as important as anyone to the team, leading the team with 12 points a game. Eisenhauer admitted the team may experience some nerves in their first trip to state, including himself, but he expects them to be ready. “We all have our goals that we put down in November and we are still chasing those goals. I believe my team will be ready for the challenges and play with a lot of effort,” he said. The Wolfpack will take on Heartland on Thursday, March 2 at 3:45 p.m. at Lincoln Southwest. The Warriors' first trip to the state boys basketball tournament in 26 years puts them right in the thick of action as the fifth seed in Class C2.
Neligh-Oakdale will meet No. 4 Amherst at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, at Lincoln Southeast High School. The official NSAA brackets were released around 8:30 this morning. With a 24-3 record, this marks the first Lincoln trip for the Warriors since 1991, before any of the players were born and a third of the coaching staff. Amherst enters the game with a 23-3 record. If the Warriors win, they 'll move on to the 2 p.m. semifinal at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday. A win there would put Neligh-Oakdale in the 4:30 p.m. championship at Pinnacle Bank Arena while a loss would push the Warriors to a 9 a.m. consolation final at Lincoln East on Friday. It was a roller-coaster district final for Neligh-Oakdale, but the Warriors are taking the ride all of the way to Lincoln with their first state tournament appearance in 26 years.
The Warriors defeated Hartington Cedar Catholic 47-36 in the C2-3 district final at Battle Creek High School. Neligh-Oakdale held Cedar Catholic scoreless for the first eight minutes and seven seconds of the game as the Warriors led 16-0 early in the second quarter. Cedar Catholic fought back, outscoring the Warriors 25-12 and tied the game at 28-all. At that point, Warrior coach Frank Gade said his team decided it was time to secure the lead for good. "We put our foot in the ground in the fourth quarter and just said 'We're going,'" he said. "We got aggressive. We got touches like we did in the first quarter cause that is when our offense is working." The Warriors regained the lead and fought for the win, pulling ahead late in the game from the free-throw line. Grant White, who led all scorers with 21 points, was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line in the final quarter and 7-of-8 for the game. "Coach just said to take it to the hole, so that's what I tried to do," White said. Alex Kerkman, who scored his 1,000th career point in the game, finished with 13 points. Tyson Belitz added eight more while Austin Rice and Clayton Anderson each added two points. Belitz and Chris Bentley did the work under the rim for the Warriors as well, pulling in eight rebounds each. Bentley, despite not scoring, made his mark offensively with four assists. White said he and his teammates are looking forward to representing the Warriors in Lincoln for the first time since 1991. "We love the game and we've always wanted to play in Lincoln. We always go down there. To actually play there, it's going to be a blast," he said. Gade added that he knows this means a lot to the team, but it also means a lot to the entire community. "It's fantastic for the whole community," he said. "I actually wrote down on one of my scouting reports a couple weeks ago that it's not just us. It's not just us in the locker room, it's not just us in the school, it's everybody. Everybody wants us to win, the whole community. It's not just those 14 guys that are on the floor, it's everybody." Score By Quarters Neligh-Oakdale 16 4 8 19 -47 Cedar Catholic 0 11 12 13 - 36 Elkhorn Valley was one of eight Class D schools to earn a trip to the 2017 State Wrestling Duals in Kearney this past weekend.
The Falcons' first opponent was top-seeded Amherst, an opponent that took down Elkhorn Valley 46-27. Dillon Stewart, Alejandro Martinez, Darren Stewart and Josh McFarland all earned head-to-head victories for the Falcons, with Dillon Stewart's being the only one not by pin. The loss to the Broncos dropped Elkhorn Valley to the consolation bracket against Tri-County. The Trojans proved to be too much for the Falcons as well, taking down Elkhorn Valley 51-27. Martinez, Darren Stewart, McFarland and Brock Schaecher all earned head-to-head victories for Elkhorn Valley. All the victories except Scaecher's were by way of pin. Class D - Elkhorn Valley is guaranteed 8th place Match #1 Quarterfinal: Amherst defeated Elkhorn Valley 46-27 113 - Dillon Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) over Salvador Aguirre (Amherst) TB-1 4-3 120 - Alejandro Martinez (Elkhorn Valley) over Breidyn Cumpston (Amherst) Fall 3:17 126 - Luke Ripp (Amherst) over Mitchell Petersen (Elkhorn Valley) Fall 5:38 132 - Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) over Morgan Shields (Amherst) Fall 1:44 145 - Joshua McFarland (Elkhorn Valley) over Trace Baasch (Amherst) Fall 5:04 152 - Jarin Potts (Amherst) over Tyler Miller (Elkhorn Valley) Maj 10-1 160 - Cole Egge (Amherst) over Brock Schaecher (Elkhorn Valley) Fall 1:41 182 - Kalen Klingelhoefer (Amherst) over Shawn Klinetobe (Elkhorn Valley) Fall 1:55 Match #2 Cons. Semi: Tri County defeated Elkhorn Valley 51-27 120 - Alejandro Martinez (Elkhorn Valley) over Tylor Monnin (Tri County) Fall 2:48 126 - Ethan Paxton (Tri County) over Mitchell Petersen (Elkhorn Valley) Dec 10-3 132 - Darren Stewart (Elkhorn Valley) over Peter Spilker (Tri County) Fall 2:59 145 - Joshua McFarland (Elkhorn Valley) over Dominic Smith (Tri County) Fall 1:58 152 - Colby Ensz (Tri County) over Tyler Miller (Elkhorn Valley) Fall 1:33 160 - Brock Schaecher (Elkhorn Valley) over Trevin Williams (Tri County) Dec 6-2 182 - Cooper Smith (Tri County) over Shawn Klinetobe (Elkhorn Valley) Fall 3:55 195 - Travis Likens (Tri County) over Xavier Antuna (Elkhorn Valley) Fall 0:38 For two-thirds of the game, the Wolfpack thought they had Boyd County right where they wanted them.
Elgin Public/Pope John jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead over the Spartans to start the game before Boyd County battled back to tie the game at 11 after the first quarter. The Wolfpack then won the second quarter to enter the break ahead 22-21. For much of the third quarter, the two teams continued to battle back and forth. However, with the two teams knotted up at 28, Boyd County turned on the jets and never looked back. They ended up finishing the third quarter on a 14-0 run before coasting through the fourth quarter to take down the Wolfpack 60-44 and end EPPJ's season. The fast start was exactly what the Wolfpack were hoping for according to coach Michael Becker. "We came out with a game plan to start hot and stay hot," he said. "Realistically, we had nothing to lose tonight and the boys bought into that. We left it all out on the floor. We just ran out of juice towards the end and they started to hit some shots towards the end." The Wolfpack were led by their two seniors in their final game. Kenny Bush finished with 13 points and eight boards while Chad Bode dropped in 11 points and also pulled down eight rebounds. Ashton Evans added nine points of his own and Hunter Reestman also pulled down eight rebounds. It's official. EPPJ earned the sixth seed in Class D1 for the girls state basketball tournament and will play Heartland in the first round.
The Wolfpack (19-4) will face No. 3 Heartland (21-4) at 3:45 p.m. at Lincoln Southwest High School. The Wolfpack never stopped practicing. It's a good thing because EPPJ is headed to Lincoln this weekend.
Via a wildcard, EPPJ earned the sixth seed in Class D1 for the girls state basketball tournament and will play Heartland in the first round. The Wolfpack (19-4) will face No. 3 Heartland (21-4) at 3:45 p.m. at Lincoln Southwest High School. Neligh-Oakdale will have little time to rest, but that's just fine for the Warriors.
The district final between Neligh-Oakdale and Hartington Cedar Catholic will be Monday, Feb. 27, at Battle Creek High School at 7 p.m. The Warriors are currently sixth in wildcard points, compared to the Trojans in 16th in Class C2. Cedar Catholic is in a must-win situation in order to qualify for the state tournament. However, Neligh-Oakdale likely has already punched its ticket - win or lose. But the Warriors would still like to remain in the driver's seat with a victory on Monday night. As has been the traditional most of the season, the students have a dress theme for the game. They're asked to dress formal - "Dress For Success" - to show they're serious about winning. Sitting sixth in Class C2 wildcard points, the Neligh-Oakdale boys basketball team has all but guaranteed itself its first appearance in the state tournament in 26 years.
The Warriors defeated West Holt 64-59 on Saturday afternoon in the Class C2 subdistrict final at O'Neill High School. With the win, Neligh-Oakdale moves on to Monday night's district championship against Hartington Cedar Catholic at 7 p.m. at Battle Creek High School. Win or lose in the district championship, Neligh-Oakdale may already have a spot in the state tournament due to wildcard points. However, an old-fashioned district title would be the safest way for the Warriors to punch their first state tournament ticket since 1991. Score By Quarters Neligh-Oakdale 15 17 11 21 -64 West Holt 17 13 10 19 - 59 Thursday night's snowstorm has caused one more delay in EPPJ's season.
After initially being delayed to Friday night, the D1-6 subdistrict final has been moved back another day. The game will now be played on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Plainview. Neligh-Oakdale subdistrict final with West Holt has been moved to Saturday due to the weather.
The game will be played at 3 p.m. at O'Neill High School. The C2-6 subdistrict final game between Neligh-Oakdale and West Holt has been postponed due to weather.
Due to possible severe weather, the Elgin Public/Pope John boys subdistrict final vs Boyd County has been postponed one day. Originally set for Thursday, the game has been rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. in Plainview.
The imminent winter weather is continuing to affect subdistrict play.
The Thursday showdown between Elgin Public/Pope John and Boyd County has been moved up to 5 p.m. The game was originally set for 7 p.m. but is being moved up to ensure safe travel after the game. The Elgin Public/Pope John boys were not willing to concede their season in just their first game of the subdistrict tournament.
They took down North Central in a strong 61-55 win, holding off a late run by the Knights to secure the victory. The two teams matched eachother score-for-score, but a 16-10 second quarter in favor of the Wolfpack proved to be the difference. Chad Bode had a dominant night for the Wolfpack. He recorded a double-double on the night, scoring 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and pulling in 13 rebounds. Hunter Reestman added 14 points in support and Ashton Evans accounted for nine. Kenny Bush added six in limited play and Liam Heithoff dropped in five. As a team, the Wolfpack shot 43 percent from the floor and 36 percent from deep. One of the more crucial factors in the win, however, was the solid free-throw shooting down the stretch, in particular by Reestman. He connected on six of his eight attempts from the charity stripe to help seal the game. Bush was 4-for-4, Evans was 4-for-7 and Bode was 3-for-4. Due to the potential weather threat, Neligh-Oakdale's subdistrict game against West Holt has been moved up to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be played at O'Neill High School.
The Clearwater-Orchard boys saw their season come to an end Tuesday in the second round of subdistrict play at the hands of top-seeded Boyd County.
The Cyclones held an 8-7 lead at the end of the first quarter but the Spartans exploded to 22 points in the second quarter to take a 29-16 lead into the halftime break. They continued to pull away later on their way to a 61-42 win. Travis Kerkman recorded a double-double to finish the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Blake Hoke added 11 points while Chris Kester added nine and Ryan Wilhelm dropped in eight. |
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