Siouxland squads have mixed results in quarterfinals

LINCOLN, NE (KTIV) - The quarterfinals continue as the NSAA boys’ basketball tournament hits it’s second day of action in Lincoln.

The first game of the day saw the Class D2 1 seed Wynot Blue Devils taking on the 8th seeded Paxton Tigers.

It didn’t take long at all for the stifling Blue Devils defense to pounce and take the steal coast to coast with a Zack Foxhoven lay in.

Chase Schroeder working down low, he kicks it out to Dylan Heine who bangs home the trifecta for the Blue Devils.

Wynot back to work on offense with the clock quickly ticking before half, the first shot no good, but Heine soars in for the put back lay up at the buzzer.

Wynot would win this one 57 to 47.

Junior Guard Zack Foxhoven knows his team is one step closer to their ultimate goal.

“We had to play hard defense there a really good team, they’re solid. Our offense shined we came out and kept a steady lead through the game and everyone contributed and that’s how we got through it, coming down here, just making it down is a big achievement for us, but one game closer it’s a great feeling.”

Wynot will now take on Sumner Eddyville Miller in the semifinals, tip is at 6 pm tomorrow.

Next up an all Siouxland match up in class C2 the 4th seeded Hartington CC Trojans shared the court with the 5th seeded Elkhorn Valley Falcons.

Cedar Catholic getting downhill early with a drive from Jaxson Bernecker that leads to an easy lay in over the Falcon defender.

Folks, you are not experiencing Deja vu, Bernecker just once again bully balls his way to the hoop and finishes once again.

Trojans are rolling and this time a kick out from Tyan Baller to Carson Arens who splashes the corner three to extend the Trojans lead.

the Trojans would win this one 59 to 50.

Playing their style of game today was a key piece of the victory according to Senior Forward Jaxson Bernecker.

“We’re definitely a pretty fast paced team, we love to get out and run, we just knew that if we controlled the pace of the game, so when we wanted to run we could run and if we wanted to slow it down, we could slow it down, and I feel like we did a good job of that tonight.”

The Trojans will take on Freeman with a trip to the championship on the line, tip is set for 1:30 pm tomorrow.

We’ll stay in class C2 for the next one as the Norfolk Catholic Knights enter as a 7 seed to take on the 2 seed Amherst Broncos.

Karter Kerkman will slice through the Bronco defense like a hot knife on butter leading to an and 1 after he finished the lay up through contact.

The Knights are down big early, but a driving Kerkman swings the ball out to Max Hammond who wets the corner three to close the gap.

Norfolk Catholic back on offense, Kerkman misses the 3, but Kade Pieper is down low to clean the glass, except he misses his first shot underneath, but the 6′5″ big man will not be denied as he gets it to finally drop and gets the and 1.

The Knights would eventually fall in OT 57 to 49, Head Coach Kevin Mazer noted a few fundamental things that the knights struggled with this afternoon.

“We just needed to be consistent, we were getting good shots early we knew all along that we had to win the rebound battle and we were losing that giving them offensive rebounds giving them transition and not closing out hard enough on threes.”

The Knights end their season in C2 first round action with a final record of 18-8.

The final Siouxland action of the night was capped off with the Santee Warriors taking on the Shelton Bulldogs.

Austyn Saul walking the ball up for the warriors and decides to let it fly from deep, he cashes in and the warriors are on the cooking.

Working in transition Justus Denney passes it up to Kellen Medina who knocks down the corner three.

Saul gets the ball for the warrior’s pumps, swings it over to Medina who buries another triple.

Santee has stormed back after being down 13 and this drive and beautiful euro passed the defender by Denney who gets the ball to drop in.

Santee would lose in heartbreaking fashion 72 to 68 but they never quit and showed a lot of pride in their team.

“They mean a lot, my boys mean a lot to me, they’re not only my basketball players, but a lot of them are also my nephews, blood relatives, those things mean a lot to me. when I talk about being down 13 points at half to a team that lost 1 game all season and to climb back into it and take a lead late in the game that means a lot to me.”

Santee ends their season 15-6 in the first round of Class D2 action in their first ever trip to state basketball.

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