Friday In The Haymarket: Classes A, B and C-1 Semifinal Recaps

Our recaps from Friday’s semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena that set up Championship Saturday.

Bellevue West 95, Creighton Prep 94 3OT

Whatever is written in this space isn’t good enough. We might try to do that later.

Bellevue West came back from down 67-60 in the last 40 seconds to force overtime at 68-all, then the two heavyweights battled it out for 12 more minutes with Bud Crawford watching.

Eight players scored in double figures — four from each team. Frankie Fidler (32), Chucky Hepburn (23), Josiah Dotzler (18) and William Kyle (10) for the Birds. And, for Prep — which lost three heartbreakers to West this year — Brendan Buckley (26), AJ Rollins (22), Justin Sitti (19) and MaiJhe Wiley (15).

Millard North 69, Millard West 62

Millard West played nearly perfect for 29 minutes on Friday night, but a couple of mini-bursts from top-seeded Millard North was just enough for the Mustangs to advance to their second consecutive Class A final.

Saint Thomas scored 26 points for the Mustangs with Jasen Green scoring 12 and Hunter Sallis adding 11 with eight rebounds and three assists. Four Millard West players were in double figures led by Evan Meyersick’s 15 points.

Millard North defeats Millard West in the Class A Semis. @MNHS_Basketball @_Saintthomas23 @HunterSallis_ @JasenGreen44 @THEnebpreps #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/gwhSYPV1K9

— Marcus Scheer (@marcus_scheer) March 13, 2021

Beatrice 41, Waverly 29

Kaden Glynn scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter — eight from the free throw line — as Beatrice advanced to their 12th state final in school history.

Beatrice led 16-9 at the half, but saw Waverly come back to take a 24-23 lead late in the third. But, Bennett Crandall’s basket at the third quarter horn swung the momentum back in the Orange’s favor. Devin Smith added 10 points for Beatrice.

Waverly got a game-high 14 points from Andrew Heffelfinger.

Elkhorn 49, Norris 33

No. 5 Elkhorn held second-ranked Norris — wait for it — to one field goal in the first half while sprinting to a 22-4 lead at the break in the first Class B semifinal on Friday afternoon. The Antlers earned their first finals appearance since 2008 and will try for their first state championship in school history on Saturday.

The inside duo of Drew Christo (15) and Dane Petersen (14) combined for 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Antlers controlled the game from the start. Norris, which finished 19-3, got 13 points from Trey Deveaux.

Adams Central 52, Wayne 40

Six players scored in the first half as Adams Central sprinted to a 26-12 halftime lead and then kept Wayne just far enough away in the second half while earning a 52-40 win over seventh-seeded Wayne.

The third-ranked Patriots got 14 points from Lucas Bohlen and 12 points and seven rebounds from Dante Boelhower while earning their second state final appearance in school history.

For Wayne — which upset second-seeded Kearney Catholic on Wednesday — they got 11 points from Brandon Bartos.

Auburn 39, Omaha Concordia 37 2OT

While winning their 61st game in a row, Auburn had to dig deep against Omaha Concordia.

Auburn got an old fashioned 3-point play from Cam Binder to open the second overtime on Friday morning that gave them just enough breathing room before holding on 39-37.

Ryan Binder led Auburn with 13 points — he scored the first four points of the opening overtime session — with Cam added 11 and Daniel Frary adding nine. Concordia (22-5) got eight points — six in the overtime periods — and 11 rebounds from Justin Otten and nine points from Zach Kulus.

The Bulldogs will play for their third straight Class C-1 title at 10:45 a.m on Saturday morning.