Girls State Basketball tips off this morning and three western Nebraska schools are firing away from deep for a state title run!
D2 #5 Hyannis 64, #4 Wauneta-Palisade 36
First up this morning with a 9:45 Mountain tip time in Lincoln is the five-seed Hyannis Longhorns in the D2 bracket matching up with four-seed Wauneta-Palisade.
Hyannis is 20-2 and has only lost once since December 8th. They’re playing in a fourth state tournament in school history. The Longhorns use a balanced scoring attack with four double-figure contributors led through the 14 ppg of senior guard Britney Brosius.
Wauneta-Palisade is in its 13th state tourney but comes into this year’s bracket with seven losses and had to wildcard into the field after losing in the sub-district playoffs. Fun fact: Hyannis and Wauneta-Palisade battled in the first round back in the 1999 tourney – a game Wauneta-Palisade won big.
This year’s Lady Broncos are much more reliant than Hyannis on a single dominating offensive threat, senior forward Faith Simpson who is pouring in 21.5 points a night. She’s a basket protector too, leading the team with 58 blocked shots.
C1 – #1 Mitchell 53, #8 Pierce 36
The Mitchell Tigers are taking its 26-0 mark into state this afternoon as the #1 seed in C1 and facing eight-seed Pierce.
This is Mitchell’s sixth state appearance and third straight season in Lincoln. Last year the Tigers lost to Ord in the opening round by 19, and it was Pierce that knocked undefeated Ord out of this year’s state event in the district finals.
Mitchell’s offense is paced by senior guard Jori Peters who is headed to play for Chadron State College next year. Peters scores 14.4 a game and has handed out a team-leading 83 assists. She’s got a nice piece in the paint to work with in junior center Keyana Wilfred. The 6’2″ star leads the Tigers with 20.3 ppg and grabs between seven and eight rebounds a night.
Pierce has been a recent powerhouse in girls basketball but missed last year’s tourney for the first time in four years. The Bluejays are back in the field at 17-8 and come with a winning pedigree having taken the C1 title three straight years from 2013-2015.
Pierce also has a nice guard-post combination with senior guard Sidney Zimmerer scoring nearly 10 points a night with the ability to steal the ball away and find teammates for shots. In the paint, forwards Maggie Brahmer and Carly Sutherland combine to score 25 a game.
Tipoff is 1:00 Mountain from the Devaney Center.
Class B: #1 Sidney vs #8 Beatrice
Sidney is the top-seed in the Class B tourney and tips off in the nightcap at 7:45 Mountain in the Devaney Center.
The Lady Raiders are in its 13th state season, 21-3 overall and trying to shake off last year’s opening round loss to Norris. Sidney won’t overwhelm opponents with a dominating player but instead gets multiple people involved on a relatively young team.
No seniors make up the top five scorers, which are led by junior Meaghan Ross at 10.3 ppg.
Sidney sees Beatrice in the opener with the Lady Orange bringing in a 14-8 mark but winners in seven of the last eight including a district championship. This is Beatrice’s first tournament since 2013 and 11th in school history.
The Lady Orange rely heavily on senior guard Michaela Jones and her 21.2 ppg along with sophomore forward Carly Leners at 8.7 ppg. Sophomore guard Addison Barnard is a good defender with 41 steals and chips in nine points offensively.