Lincoln, Neb. — Crofton advanced to their 13th final in school history and will look to win their ninth state championship on Saturday when they face conference mate Ponca in the Class C-2 state championship game.

Crofton 66, Bridgeport 48

The top-ranked Warriors sprinted to an 18-8 first quarter lead and still have yet to be seriously challenged in Lincoln. They led 35-20 at the half and 58-32 heading to the fourth quarter.

Crofton’s Alexis Folkers brings the ball up the floor against Bridgeport in Thursday’s Class C-2 semifinal. (nebpreps photos / Marcus Scheer)

Lacey Sprakel had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who advanced their record to 25-3. Ella Wragge also had 17 points for Crofton.

Bridgeport (24-4) was plagued by 28 turnovers. Olivia Loomis-Goltl had 17 points and Ruthie Loomis-Goltl had 16 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs will face BRLD in Friday’s 2:00 consolation game at Lincoln Northeast.

EVERYONE GETS BETTER: “When you play the way we do, you have to have kids. We have a girl on our bench with a cast on her arm so last week, we threw another girl in there. I think we have kids that make other kids better in practice.” — Crofton coach Aaron Losing on their pressure defense

The @CroftonWarriors advance to the Class C-2 state championship with a 66-48 win over Bridgeport. Hear from Coach Losing and Ella Wragge. #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/tNVTgvoebA

— Steve Marik (@Steve_Marik) March 5, 2021

Ponca 55, BRLD 37

Ponca fell down to BRLD 5-0 early, but after that, they sailed to the Class C-2 final avenging an earlier loss the Wolverines in dominating fashion, 55-37.

The Indians led 30-17 at the half on strength of a 14-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters. Ponca was led by Ashlyn Kingsbury who had a game-high 23 points, while Samantha Ehlers added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

BRLD was forced into 24 turnovers during the game. Jordan Snyder who had 12 points and nine rebounds.

PICKING IT UP: “We just had to come out and pick up out intensity. We weren’t playing Ponca basketball, we were someone else. Then, we started to confuse them a little bit on defense and force some turnovers. We just had to do what we do and do it well.” — Ponca coach, Bob Hayes

Ponca wins 55-37 over BRLD. Ashlyn Kingsbury scored 23 and made four 3s. #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/5rxziczmUL

— Steve Marik (@Steve_Marik) March 5, 2021