Class A: Lincoln High, Bellevue East, Bellevue West, Omaha Central win
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By the Lincoln Journal Star
Class A tournament results:
Lincoln High 63, Creighton Prep 57
One second, Creighton Prep had the ball and a chance to tie or go ahead.
Matchups are everything and Omaha Benson had Creighton Prep’s number this year. But the Junior Jays couldn’t run into the Bunnies until the final, and that’s a tough road for Benson, so Prep is the pick. The inside game of Matt Harmon and John Karhoff provided Prep with a solid start, and the team found a way to beat both Bellevue West and Omaha Central during the season. The first-round matchup with Lincoln High, which defeated Benson, should provide one of the finalists. Ralston got the top seed, but the Rams haven’t run into a team like Bellevue East, with center Jarrell Clayton and quick, athletic guards on the perimeter. Bellevue West and Omaha Central have met in the final the last two years, but it should be a semifinal rematch. The two-time defending champion Eagles should have an advantage over Bellevue West with Josh Jones back to his old self. -- Ryly Jane Hambleton
1. BELLEVUE EAST CHIEFTAINS
Rank: NR Coach: Jason Ryan
Last year at state: 2004
Of note: Crayton will be a challenge inside for the Smiths of Ralston.
2. BELLEVUE WEST THUNDERBIRDS
Rank: 2 Coach: Doug Woodard
Last year at state: 2007
Of note: Won two prior meetings with Benson, 77-73 and 95-86.
3. CREIGHTON PREP JUNIOR JAYS
Rank: 1 Coach: Josh Luedtke
Last year at state: 2007
Of note: Were it not for Bunnies, Prep would be unbeaten.
4. KEARNEY BEARCATS
Rank: 10 Coach: Scott Steinbrook
Last year at state: 2007
Of note: Steinbrook also coaches the Bearcats’ boys soccer team.
5. LINCOLN HIGH LINKS
Rank: 4 Coach: Russ Uhing
Last year at state: 2004
Of note: Links went 3-1 against teams in the Class A field.
6. OMAHA BENSON BUNNIES
Rank: 8 Coach: Tyler Cerveny
Last year at state: 2003
Of note: Tallest starter is 6-foot-3 center Aaron Russell.
7. OMAHA CENTRAL EAGLES
Rank: 3 Coach: Eric Behrens
Last year at state: 2007
Of note: Northeast of the ’90s was last to win three straight titles.
8. RALSTON RAMS
Rank: 5 Coach: Bill Heard
Last year at state: 2007
Of note: Will return to Class B next season.
Thursday's results
The next, Michael Partee flashed in front of a pass, stole it and raced for a layup.
Partee’s heroics helped Lincoln High cap a wild comeback and advance to the Class A state tournament semifinals with a 63-57 win against top-ranked Creighton Prep.
“I saw the play was broken up because Pete (Uhing) kind of threw it away, so I just did what I always do and just hustled and went and got the ball and just finished,” Partee said.
Lincoln High tied the game at 51-51 when Josh Riser drove for a basket and completed a three-point play. After John Karhoff put Prep back in front, Riser tied the game again at the free-throw line.
The Links, who trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, took their first lead of the game at 55-53 with 1:30 left when R.J. Richardson rebounded a missed shot, was fouled and made two free throws.
Partee made four free throws in addition to his layup and Richardson added two more free throws down the stretch.
“One time I looked up and there was 4½ minutes left and that’s an eternity,” said Lincoln High coach Russ Uhing. “So even though we hadn’t been able to quite catch up, I felt reasonably good with where we were.”
The Links’ victory came after a disastrous first quarter in which they allowed 26 points and trailed by 15.
“Our defense was bad. We were letting them get layups,” Partee said. “They’re bigger than us, so if they get layup chances, that’s their advantage. But once we got our help-side defense down, we were there.”
The Links settled in and cut Prep’s lead to 35-29 at halftime.
“We started driving a lot and just attacking the basket,” Richardson said.
Partee agreed.
“We came out with a little jitters but once we got that out of the way, we got after it,” he said. “As long as we attack the basket, we’ll be OK.”
Creighton Prep coach Josh Luedtke said the Junior Jays didn’t execute as well as they should have.
“They got layups, we took bad shots. We turned the ball over and they did not,” he said. “They hit free throws, we didn’t. You’re not going to win many games with that kind of philosophy. And you won’t win game shooting 10-for-23 at the free-throw line.”
The Links finished 17-for-21 at the line. Richardson was 6-for-6, Riser, who led Lincoln High with 20 points, was 5-for-7 and Partee 4-for-4.
“Free throws are just you and the rim,” Partee said. “R.J. and I were working on them together this morning. We knew it was going to come down to layups, rebounds and free throws.”
--Ryly Jane Hambleton
Bellevue East 60, Ralston 56: The No. 8 seed Chieftains knocked out the top-seeded Rams on the strength of Jarrell Crayton's 26 points -- seven of which came in the fourth quarter.
Ralston, which finished its season 21-3, cut an eight-point halftime deficit to five going into the fourth quarter, but couldn't rally all the way back. The Rams were led by Greg Smith's 26 points, while Dwight Smith chipped in 11.
Bellevue East (17-9) advanced to Friday's 7 p.m. semifinal at the Devaney Center.
Bellevue West 74, Omaha Benson 57
For a team with plenty of state tournament experience, it took Bellevue West a long time to get comfortable.
Once the Thunderbirds did, the offense started to work and Bellevue West earned a berth in the Class A semifinals.
“We played really tight in the first half,” said Bellevue West coach Doug Woodard. “With kids, you never know how they are going to react. We also played very tight in districts. Hopefully, this got us going.”
After struggling through an 11-for-34 shooting performance in the first half, the Thunderbirds (24-2) connected on 20 of 33 attempts in the second half.
“Fortunately for us, Benson wasn’t shooting that well, either,” Woodard said. “We took poor shots, made really bad decisions. Toward the end of the third quarter, we started getting the ball up and down the floor a little better and started taking better shots and, lo and behold, we made a few more.”
Jeff Allgood’s night was typical of the Bellevue West performance. The Army recruit connected on just 2 of his first 12 shots from the field, both threes. In the final 10 minutes of the game, he was 5-for-5 from the field and finished with 19 points.
Steve Palmtag, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, kept Bellevue West in the game during the middle two quarters.
“Steve didn’t recognize right away that he wasn’t being covered. They were sagging on Shomari (Wellington) and cheating off on Steve and Greg (Hardin),” Woodard said. “He just did a tremendous job on the glass and did yeoman’s work for us.”
Omaha Central 56, Kearney 43
It took Central three quarters before it finally broke away from Kearney. The lead changed hands four times in the first half and was tied once and the Eagles had just a 36-31 advantage after three quarters.
But in the final period, Chris Griffin hit a three and Lorenzo Wilson and Donald Jones scored inside before the Eagles connected on 11 of 12 free throws.
“Nobody really shot well. If the shots start to flow, then the offense does, too,” said Central coach Eric Behrens. “Chris Griffin is really an unselfish player, but when the others didn’t get going, he stepped up.”
Central was 21-for-52 from the field and hit just 1 of 10 three-pointers. Kearney had worse difficulties, hitting 16 of 50 shots from the field and 6 of 25 from three-point range.
With the win, Central advances to a semifinal matchup with Bellevue West, which the Eagles defeated in the finals the last two years.
“Tomorrow, the style will probably be completely different,” Behrens said. “It wasn’t like they slowed the game down. The offenses were both struggling. There were trips going up and down but we were not scoring.”
Stay with JournalStar.com for updates.
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LHS uno! "
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