Area well represented at state basketball tournaments

Three area teams brought home hardware from their respective state basketball tournaments last week.
The Holyoke, Colorado girls’ team wrapped up a 25-1 season with a 2A State Championship Saturday in Loveland, Colorado.
The second-seeded Dragons beat top-seeded Sanford 39-34 for the team’s first state championship.
Offensively, Holyoke made five first-half three pointers and added a sixth in the second half.
Defensively, the Dragons held Sanford (25-2) to its lowest point total of the season.
Holyoke took a double-digit lead in the first half, but watched it dwindle to three points twice in the fourth quarter. A Sanford three pointer with a minute remaining in the game left Holyoke leading 37-34. Sanford was forced to foul late in the game and Holyoke senior Lauren Herman made two free throws to seal the win.
Herman finished with 14 points. Elyce Viselmeyer and Audrey Talavera each had nine.
In the boys’ 2A bracket, Yuma, Colorado, the top seed, won a state title with a 59-43 win over Sanford.
Also in 2A boys’ tournament, Wray, Colorado was seeded fifth and lost in the state tournament’s first round to fourth-seeded Denver Christian. Wray won its next two games and finished fifth.
In boys’ 1A action, Haxtun, Colorado lost two games.
On this side of the state line, North Platte St. Pat’s claimed the Class D1 boys’ state title with a 65-57 win over Loomis Friday.
The Irish were seeded first and finished with a 26-2 record, with only December losses to Kearney Catholic and Ogallala marring their record.
NPSP advanced to the state championship with a first-round 54-49 win over Lourdes Central Catholic, then a 55-32 win over fifth-seeded Burwell in the semifinals.
Loomis had advanced to the state championship game with a 60-48 win over Dundy County Stratton.
The second-seeded Tigers lost the consolation game 44-58 to fifth-seeded Burwell.
The Bridgeport girls’ team also had a tournament to remember.
The Bulldogs finished runners-up to Hastings St. Cecilia Saturday.
In the first round, third-seeded Bridgeport beat Sutton 55-35. The Bulldogs held off seventh-seeded Oakland-Craig in the semifinals.
HSC came in as the tournament’s top seed and, after beating Elkhorn Valley in the first round, took out nemesis Crofton 39-36 in the semifinals.
It was the fourth-straight championship game for the Bluehawks. St. Cecilia won Class C2 in 2019 and 2020, but were Class C1 runners-up last year after a loss to North Bend Central.
With the exception of 2012, HSC has been to every tournament since 2010 and played in the state championship game eight times and the third place game twice.
The Bluehawks took the title with a slim 40-38 victory.
This year’s Nebraska tournament was one to remember with both boys’ and girls’ games running concurrently March 7-12.
With Nebraska hosting this year’s Big Ten wrestling championship at Pinnacle Bank Arena the first week of March, the Nebraska Schools Activities Association elected to run the state tournament March 14-19.
In other state championship games, Fremont beat Lincoln Southwest for the Class A girls’ title, while Millard North topped Bellevue West for the Class A boys’ championship.
Elkhorn North repeated as girls’ Class B state champions with a win over Skutt Catholic. In Class B boys, Roncalli Catholic beat Skutt Catholic.
The Class C1 girls’ championship went to North Bend Central after its win over Lincoln Lutheran, while a last-second three pointer by Ashland-Greenwood dashed Auburn’s hopes of a fourth-straight boys’ title.
The Grand Island Central Catholic girls’ team, which beat Chase County in the district finals, placed third after its win over Gothenburg in the consolation game.
The Ogallala boys’ team lost in the first round to Ashland-Greenwood.
In boys’ Class C2, Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family beat Grand Island Central Catholic 43-42.
The girls’ Class D1 title also went to Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family thanks to a 42-34 win over Shelton.
Class D2 was dominated by parochial schools. For the girls, Falls City Sacred Heart was first, St. Francis second and St. Mary’s fourth. On the boys’ side, Parkview Christian was first, St. Mary’s second and Sacred Heart third.
Diller-Odell, which beat the Wauneta-Palisade girls at districts, lost in the first round to St. Francis.