Champions were crowned on Monday during the 2024 Elkhorn Valley Bank Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout Wayne Holiday Basketball Tournament.
From Rice Auditorium, four more games took over the winner’s bracket with the four loser’s bracket games being played at Wayne High School to open the week.
In the championship series, the Pender girls won 51-26 over Wayne while the Wayne boys picked up a 61-45 victory over Pender.
During the girls final, Pender jumped ahead with an 18-4 first quarter followed by an 11-3 second to build a 29-7 first half lead. The Pendragons would outscore Wayne, 16-14 in the third and 6-5 in the fourth. Final favored Pender 51-26 winning their 18th straight game and third consecutive Wayne title to now sit 10-0 on the season as the Blue Devils fell to 4-5.
Wayne High was led in scoring by junior Haley Kramer with 14 points.
Other scoring came from junior Reagan McGuire with five points, sophomore Addison Frank added four points, sophomore Mallory Redden scored two points as sophomore Alexis Legler tallied a point.
The Blue Devils finished 6-9 from the foul line.
Pender leaders were junior Madalyn Dolliver with three made three’s for 12 points as junior Allie Rutar followed with 10 points.
Other scoring came from senior Maya Dolliver with nine points, senior Jala Krusemark and junior Hadley Walsh both tacked on seven points as freshman Myrra Hansen poured in six points.
The Pendragons shot 9-15 at the charity stripe.
From the boys final, Wayne held a 22-20 edge after the opening quarter followed by a 13-3 advantage in the second to go up 35-23 at half. Wayne added to their lead thanks to a 9-4 third as Pender won the fourth, 18-17. Final favored Wayne High 61-45 winning back-to-back holiday tournament titles to improve to 8-0 as the Pendragons suffered their first loss falling to 8-1.
Wayne High leaders were senior Colson Nelsen on five made three’s and 6-6 at the foul line with 25 points as sophomore Jaxson Kneifl added four made three’s (4-6 FT) with 16 points.
Other scoring came from senior Gavin Redden with seven points, junior Drew Reinhardt tallied six points; junior Jace Jorgensen tacked on four points as senior Kaden Keller scored three points.
The Blue Devils finished 12-15 from the foul line.
Pender was led in scoring by sophomore Zander Welsh on five made three’s with 15 points as junior Trevor Trimble followed with 12 points.
Other scoring came from junior Ryan Krueger with nine points, senior Alex Roth added five points as senior Owen Kneifl finished with four points.
The Pendragons shot 4-5 at the charity stripe.
Earlier in the afternoon showcased the third place games.
The Pierce girls used a three-point basket with 1.2 seconds remaining from sophomore Haley Scholting to win 53-51 over Laurel-Concord-Coleridge while the Plattsmouth boys held on for the 50-45 victory over Pierce for third place.
In the girls third place game, Pierce went ahead 11-7 after the first quarter as LCC answered with a 15-11 second to force a 22-22 tie at the half. Pierce outscored the Bears, 16-13 in the third as Laurel-Concord-Coleridge won the fourth, 16-15. Final favored Pierce winning 53-51 to improve to 5-2 as LCC fell to 5-4.
LCC leaders were sophomore Carlie Kvols on five made three’s with 19 points as fellow sophomore Rena Rasmussen followed with 13 points.
Other scoring came from sophomore Kaida Eriksen with six points; five-point scoring came from junior Karli Ferris and senior Lainey Schutt; sophomore Hattie McCorkindale tallied two points as junior Brinley Stanlee posted a point.
The Bears shot 5-7 from the foul line.
Pierce was led in scoring by senior Skylar Scholting (three made three’s) with 18 points as Haley Scholting (three made three’s) followed with 17 points.
Other scoring came from junior Abbie Cone with six points; sophomore Grace Suckstorf added five points; two-point scoring came from senior Hadley Wragge, junior Emily Endorf and sophomore Nora Herian as senior Aubrey Hanson scored a point.
The Bluejays finished 8-15 at the charity stripe.
During the boys third place game, Plattsmouth held a slight 16-14 lead following the first quarter before building their lead thanks to a 15-9 second to go up 31-23 at half. Pierce chipped away at the deficit with a 13-10 third as both teams scored nine points in the fourth. Final favored Plattsmouth winning 50-45 to improve to 3-6 as the Bluejays fell to 2-5.
Pierce leaders were junior Keaton Frazier with 20 points as junior Brock Collison added 11 points.
Other scoring came from junior Ryder Thyson with six points; sophomore Kendall Shada followed with five points; sophomore Ethan Nordby tacked on two points as sophomore Gavin Lubischer scored a point.
The Bluejays shot 7-12 from the foul line.
Plattsmouth was led in scoring by junior Traceson Skalberg with 14 points as senior Rylee Johnson and junior Derek Nanke both scored 10 points.
Other scoring came from sophomore Nate Frederick (three made three’s) for nine points; sophomore Levi Walker tallied five points as senior Logan Ksiazek poured in two points.
The Blue Devils finished 7-8 at the charity stripe.
NSAA winter sports resume this Thursday, January 2.
2024 Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout
Final results 12-30-24
At Wayne High (loser’s bracket):
Seventh place girls game: South Sioux City (3-6) won 58-39 over Winnebago (1-8)
Seventh place boys game: South Sioux City (4-5) won 57-52 against LCC (4-5)
Fifth place girls game: Cedar Catholic (6-3) won 61-47 over Plattsmouth (6-3)
Fifth place boys game: Cedar Catholic (4-3) won 67-61 against Winnebago (4-6)
