2019 Boys State Basketball Tournament – Class C
Action begins today across Lincoln at Boys State Basketball! Here’s a glance at the Class C opening round games involving western Nebraska teams and a look at the game slate.
C1 – Thursday Schedule
#6 Grand Island Central Catholic vs #3 Auburn – 8:00 MT
#2 Wahoo vs #7 Boys Town – 9:45 MT
#1 Ogallala vs #8 Milford – 1:00 MT
#4 North Bend Central vs #5 Adams Central – 2:45 MT
Ogallala Indians (26-0) vs Milford Eagles (21-5)
- Ogallala comes into its 23rd state tournament looking for its first championship since winning the Class B crown in 1992. The Indians are loaded offensively with six scoring threats. Junior guard Carter Brown leads the way at 15.9 ppg with senior backcourt teammate Evan Allen-Mader scoring 10.9 a night. The forward spot has another junior-senior combo that scores almost 19 a game making Ogallala a tough team to defend.
- It’s not often you find a team who’s leading rebounder also shares the ball better than anyone else. Ogallala’s Clayton Murphy is a 6’4″ junior guard with 119 rebounds and 135 assists, both tops on the team. Defensively the Indians create turnovers, which includes almost a dozen steals a game.
- Milford enters the state field for the 17th time in school history and would break a long tournament title drought if the Eagles can win it all. The Class I 1920 championship was the only time MHS held the trophy, and the Eagles were runner-up in C1 in 1998.
- Two seniors and a freshman are the top scoring threats for Milford. The upperclassmen backcourt of Bragen Meyer and Nathan Mensick scores 27 ppg, which accounts for 43% of the Eagles scoring nightly. Seth Stutzman is a 6’4″ freshman forward who adds 8.4 ppg and is the second leading rebounder at 4.8 rpg, eight behind Meyer’s 4.9.
C2 – Thursday Schedule
#3 Sutton vs #6 Yutan – 1:00 MT
#2 Bridgeport vs #7 Ponca – 2:45 MT
#1 BRLD vs #8 Howells-Dodge – 6:00 MT
#4 Centennial vs #5 Wakefield -7:45 TM
Bridgeport Bulldogs (23-2) vs Ponca Indians (22-4)
- Bridgeport begins the 12th state tournament journey in school history with a very high seed and in position to grab its first state title since the C1 crown in 1990. Bridgeport’s only two losses came to schools also in the tournament: Alliance and Ogallala in back-to-back early season games. The Bulldogs have won 16 straight games entering State.
- The Bulldogs have experience to lead the offense under Head Coach Nick Broz with three seniors as their leading scorers. Forwards Drake DeMasters puts in 14.4 a night and Logan Nichols 10.1 ppg. Guard Kaleb Lussetto scores a shade under 13 ppg. DeMasters can be intimidating at the basket with 70 blocked shots while DeMasters joines sophomore Cole Faessler with 42 steals apiece.
- The Ponca Indians return to the state tournament once again this year looking for a third straight championship. Ponca is led by junior forward Carter Kingsbury – a 6’4″ scorer at 18.4 ppg who also leads on the glass with 142 rebounds. Three Indians keep it balanced putting the ball in the hole at between 8-10 ppg each making Ponca one of the toughest teams to slow down defensively.