The Elkhorn North girls basketball team left me in a daze tonight.

Sensational Elkhorn North sophomore All-Stater Britt Prince (L) and her Mom, head coach Ann Prince (R) simply left me in a daze after watching their big win over a fine Broken Bow squad.

GRAND ISLAND CENTRAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL

Santa Claus dropped a late Christmas gift by my front door a week ago when I found out the Elkhorn North and Broken Bow girls would be meeting up at GICC, right across the fence from my house. Better yet, they asked me to do the PA for this meeting.

You know, I’ve seen countless high school boys and girls athletic teams compete over the years. I’ve been fortunate enough to witness a string of 39 state basketball tournaments, 35 state track meets without a miss. Never missed a state football final at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln until a foolish fall off a ladder caused a broken righ collarbone and dislocated shoulder that left me unable to drive.

I am old enough to have witnessed girls basketball from it’s infancy, when Nancy Kindig and her Hastings St. Cecilia's teammates destroyed everyone on their way to a 66 game winning streak.

I watched West Point Central Catholic a handful of times when the great Megan Neuvirth was leading those girls to a state record 111 straight victories. Neuvirth told me last April when she and I were both inducted into The Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame, that she never experienced a loss in high school. Imagine that

I was the PA guy at GI Northwest when Seward, with one of my favorites, Beth Bohuslavsky, would come to town in the midst of a 104 game winning run.

I was lucky enough to see Sandy Creek’s girls many times during their 95 game win streak. I went on to interview that school’s Carrie Eighmey, who is now the head womens basketball coach at UNK.

I also recall Nebraska’s leading all-time scoring leader Darcy Stracke telling me that, as a youngster, she slept with a basketball instead of a stuffed animal and dribbled that same ball all the way from her house to downtown Chambers, then did the same on the return trip home.

From the time 11 all-time leading scorer, Jina Johansen was a freshman all-stater at Centura, to the present time (Head Womens Basketball Coach @ Hastings College), I would always have her hold out her hand and touch mine, comparing how much smaller mine was compared to hers. No wonder she was such a wicked ball handler.

This guy has been blessed to have seen some of the greatest individual players and teams in the history of girls basketball, but last night behind the mic at GICC, Ann Prince and the Elkhorn North girls basketball team left me in a daze, placing themselves among some the finest I’ve ever witnessed.

Coach Ann Prince, daughter Britt and the rest of the tight-knit Elkhorn North basketball team performed like a symphony, blending together like a well-rehersed orchestra, with Ann Prince conducting the 32 minute orchestral piece that closed with a resounding fortissimo ending, an 89-31 victory over a very fine Broken Bow squad, coached by a fearless leader in Kelly Cooksley.

11-3 Broken Bow, with Big Jim Scott’s girls, Kya and Kailyn, gave it a go in the first quarter, keeping pace in a 23-16 opening quarter. But Elkhorn North struck the killer opening note of the contest when the amazing Britt Prince picked a Bow ball handler’s pocket, gliding coast to coast for a smooth as silk layup.

The play drew a strange response from head coach Ann Price, as the concertmaster exclaimed “Too easy, too easy!” Britt Prince pulled a repeat steal-and-score performance on Bow’s second trip down the floor, prompting the same “Too easy” response from Ann Prince.

There had to be a significance in Coach Prince’s response to Britt’s opening steal and score that I, in my simple basketball mind, did not comprehend.

It was all good though, as the Wolves, like Poetry in Motion, sped to a 23-16 opening stanza lead, ran away with it in the second quarter with a 23-2 run, on their way to a 60-22 halftime advantage over a proud Bow team, who never quit fighting.

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This Elkhorn North team’s near flawless performance hit me hard last evening. I do understand the difference between Class C-1 and a defending Class B State Champion basketball team, but the superior mechanics, near flawless performance and the pure harmony this Elkorn North unit displayed last evening was mind-boggling.

Remember now, a year ago Ann Price led this team to a state championship the FIRST YEAR this school was in existence. I may be wrong, but certainly cannot recall any school pulling off such a thing at any time in the history of girls basketball.

I could write a book about the amazing Britt Price, Ann’s concertmaster on the basketball floor, but it’s more than just Britt on this Elkhorn North basketball team.

Now, last night, it appeared that Kelly Cooksley threw a box and one defense at Ann Prince’s forces in the opening quarter, “limiting” Britt to 7 first quarter points, but Ann solved it and Britt went off for 17 second quarter points, grabbed several rebounds and dished out numerous assists during the Wolves 37 to 7 second quarter onslaught.

Oh, by the way, if you think Elkhorn North is a One-Man team, think again. Besides 5-11 sophomore Britt Prince, there is 6-2 junior Grace Heaney, 5-11 junior Hannah Nadgwick, and a pair of 5-9 seniors in Reilly Palmer and Molly Bruggeman.

All can score and can they RUN! The instant that defensive rebound is pulled down by one of these Wolves girls, this Elkhorn North team is exploding from the blocks and down court faster than a sneeze through a screen door.

And the DEFENSE. The lateral movement and ability to stick to a ball handler like glue without fouling is remarkable. A fine illustration of this is the fact they are disposing of their competition by an average of 72-33 per game. Only undefeated Omaha Skutt has scored or 50 points on Ann Prince’s team and that was on a night when sickness and illness plagued the Wolves.

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I can only hope I’m assigned an Elkhorn North girls game at the state basketball tournament. The 14-1 Wolves, who are currently rated #10 in the all-class ratings published by Mike Patterson @ the Omaha World-Herald, are a must see for this guy.

So polished, so disciplined, so smooth and harmonious up and down the court, this Elkhorn North team left me in a daze last night, and watching Britt Prince and the girls perform under the direction of Ann Prince caused a sleepless night for me.

And, let's not forget to salute Broken Bow head coach Kelly Cooksley and his girls for playing this game. I’m not certain who set up this cross-class matchup and why it was at GICC, but it had to benefit those Bow girls, despite the lopsided final score.

I saw these Broken Bow girls defeat a very fine Auburn team last Saturday in the Nebraska Girls basketball Classic, an event created by Coach Cooksley, so I can assure you Kelly’s girls can flat play the game and much of that can be attributed to his superior knowledge of the game of girls basketball.

In my opinion, Kelly Cooskley is one of the top girls basketball coaches in the state and will continue to have success regardless of what progam he leads. The passion he displays puts him right up in the august company of coaches like Ann Prince.

More likely than not, you will see this Bow team in Lincoln as part of the C-1 state tournament field.

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I just cannot close this story without mentioning how thrilled I was to see former Pierce high school football star and 1000 yard rusher, Mark Prince at the game last night. Back in 1985, the 5-10, 175 pound Prince not only rushed for 1,193 yards on offense, but was named to the Class C-1 All-State team as a DEFENSIVE LINEMAN.

Mark Prince was one tough son-of-a-gun back in the day and just happens to be Ann’s husband and Britt’s Dad. Anyone want to talk about bloodlines here?

It was my pleasure to meet you last night, Mr. Prince.