The Wayne High boys made some key plays at opportune times to lay claim to the 2023 Elkhorn Valley Bank Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout title Saturday with a 49-39 win over Hartington Cedar Catholic at Wayne State College’s Rice Auditorium.
The two Mid State Conference rivals battled close until the end of the first half, when Wayne scored six points in the final 10 seconds to take the momentum into the locker room.
Colson Nelsen hit a 3-pointer to give Wayne a 26-20 lead with :10 to go in the first half. Senior Devin Anderson stole the inbound pass and found Nelsen at the top of the key, who hit a double-clutch shot for a second trifecta that made it 29-20 at the half. Cedar did get within seven going to the final period, but could get no closer as the Blue Devils won the tournament title.
Nelsen’s game-high 21 points included five 3-pointers to lead a balanced Wayne attack. Caiden Backer added nine points, Jace Jorgensen and Gavin Redden both scored seven, Anderson had three and Drue Davis dropped in two as Wayne improved to 10-2 on the season.
Nolan Becker led the Trojans with 18 points while Alex Kuehn added five.
In other boys action:
Seventh Place — Winnebago won a closely-contested battle with South Sioux CIty 62-52. The game was close until the fourth quarter when the Indians outscored the Cardinals 21-11 for the win. Timothy LaPointe led a balanced Winnebago effort with 20 points while Lavelle Smith and Rachman Free-Bass both had nine. Ahmed Mohamed led SSC with 15 points while Prestin Blackhawk added 13.
Fifth Place — Pender won it at the wire with a 41-39 win over Plattsmouth, scoring the final point of the game on a free throw with 0.2 seconds remaining. Alex Roth had a game-high 25 points and Aiden Beckman added 11 for the Pendragons. Gage Olson paced Plattsmouth with 18 points and Traceson Skalberg added nine.
Third Place — LCC claimed consolation honors with a 50-43 win over Pierce. The Bears led by as many as 15 before the Bluejays came back in the fourth to make it interesting, coming as close as five points. Gibson Roberts led the Bears with 14 points and Kolby Hansen added eight. Brock Collison led Pierce with 13 points while Deon Watts added 12.
The Wayne High girls, meanwhile, managed to come away with a victory in the tournament with a 55-50 triumph over Winnebago in the girls’ seventh-place game at Wayne High School.
Wayne trailed after one period and were behind by two going to the fourth quarter, but used an effective press defense to help them come from behind and claim the win to improve to 4-8 heading out of the holiday break.
Haley Kramer had a game-high 18 points to pace Wayne, with Frantzdie Barner adding 10 points. Elle Powicki and Reagan McGuire each had eight, Gabbi Judd scored four, Reginae Menyweather and Lily Gubbels each had three and Addison Sharpe scored one.
Jolon Blackbird led Winnebago with 14 points, while Haylie Lovejoy added 10.
In other girls action:
Fifth Place — Pierce outlasted LCC 54-36, building a 10-point halftime advantage on their way to the win. Abbie Cone scored 21 points to lead three Lady Jays in double figures, with Hadley Wragge adding 12 and Skylar Scholting putting in 10. Mallory Eriksen, Lainey Schutte and Rena Rasmussen all had eight points to lead the Lady Bears.
Third Place — Hartington Cedar Catholic held on for a 60-48 win over Plattsmouth to claim consolation honors. Anisten Wortmann led all scorers with 19 points for the Lady Trojans, with Addison Walter adding 14 and Katy Jones putting in 10. Jolie Dix paced the Blue Devils with 14 points.
Championship — The Class C-2 top-ranked Pender Lady Pendragons raced to a big lead early and cruised past Class B No. 6 South Sioux City 60-32 to claim the 2023 tournament title. Pender hit four 3-pointers in the opening stanza and took control of the game early with a 24-10 advantage to cruise to the tournament title. Maya Dolliver and Avery Wegner both scored 18 points to lead the way, with Hadley Walsh adding nine. Bailee Burant led SSC with 11 points and Brooklyn Heineman added 10.
