Wyatt Hengelfelt is listed as a player to watch. PCN file photo by Beth Sparrow
By Tony Chapman, Courtesy of NSAA Home
For Freeman, and coach Jim McLaughlin, it’s good to be back in Lincoln.
After advancing to state from 2021-2023 and winning the 2023 Class C-2 state title, the Falcons were ousted in last year’s district final round by Bridgeport. They return to Lincoln as the top-seed with a 24-1 record, their lone loss to Johnson-Brock.
“I think our kids have put together a really nice team this year, they seem to compliment each other really well,” McLaughlin said. “We knew our schedule would be tough and our kids responded well to that, we tried to play a lot of different opponents who play different styles.”
The Falcons played six games against tournament qualifiers and also beat C-1 tournament regular Auburn twice during the season. In the opener of what McLaughlin calls “a really balanced field” the Falcons face Archbishop Bergan, who has one of the top players in the field in Gavin Baker (19.4 points per game). Easton Buss (13.7 points) and Hudson Vetrovsky (10.3) lead the Falcons.
“We know they are a young team,” McLaughlin said, “but we don’t think they are ahead of schedule. They are right where they belong in Lincoln. They are really, really skilled. Baker is just fantastic, he’s very athletic.”
In the top half of the bracket, the winner of that 9:00 AM game on Thursday will play the Summerland and Exeter-Milligan/Friend winner; a battle of Bobcats. Summerland’s balanced attack has all five starters between 7.2 and 12.3 points per game and EMF’s Grady Bresson is just over 17 points an outing.
Yutan (19-5) and Cross County (24-2) are the top seeds on the bottom half of the bracket. The Chieftains have West Holt, which went on the road to defeat Grand Island Central Catholic in their district final while the Cougars will get 21-6 Cedar Catholic in the final game on Thursday at 3:15 at the Devaney Center.
“We talked about how balanced the field is at practice the other day,” McLaughlin said. “I think if you played the tournament eight times, you might get eight different winners. The field is really deep. I think to win this you are going to have to be really consistent over three days.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Trevor Reed (Freeman), 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds/game, 95 assists, 41 steals. Gavin Baker (Archbishop Bergan), 19.4 points, 8.8 rebounds/game, 46 blocks, 33 assists. Preston Hoke (Summerland) 12.3 points, 3.8 rebounds/game, 99 assists, 51 steals. Grady Bresson (EMF), 17.2 points, 9.4 rebounds/game, 40 steals, 36 assists. Ryan Maguire (Yutan), 11.2 points, 3.9 rebounds/game, 58 assists. Zach Hooey (West Holt), 13.5 points, 8 rebounds/game, 57 assists. Wyatt Hengenfelt (Cross County) 10.2 points, 6.5 rebounds/game, 48 assists, 31 steals. Nolan Becker (Cedar Catholic) 16.1 points, 7.1 rebounds/game, 68 assists, 40 steals.
FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (THURSDAY). At Devaney Center | Freeman (24-1) vs. Archbishop Bergan (16-9), 9:00 AM; Summerland (23-3) vs. Exeter-Milligan/Friend (23-4),10:45 AM; Yutan (19-5) vs. West Holt (21-5), 1:30 PM; Cross County (24-2) vs. Cedar Catholic (21-6), 3:15 PM.
