Cambridge, Arapahoe girls punch state ticket

Arapahoe High School sophomore Grace Snyder cuts down the net during the Warriors' post-game ritual for beating Arnold 55-25 in the Class D1-5 district title game Friday night at Gothenburg. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

Three area teams will be competing in the Nebraska state girls basketball tournaments Thursday-Saturday at Lincoln.

Cambridge and Perkins County will compete at the Class C2 state tournament for the second straight year.

Cambridge fought off Ravenna 49-46 in overtime to claim the Class C2-5 district title and Perkins County downed Bridgeport 59-46 in the C2-6 title game.

Arapahoe blasted Arnold 55-25 to win the Class D2-5 title and will compete in the Class D2 state tournament.

Unlike last year when they played each other in the first round, the Cambridge Trojans and Perkins County Plainsmen will play different opponents in the first round this season.

Perkins County (21-0) is the No. 1 seed at the Class C2 state tournament and will play Elkhorn Valley (20-4) at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Lincoln Southwest gym.

The winner will play Friday in the semifinals against the winner of the 3:45 p.m. first round game between East Butler (21-2) versus West Point Central Catholic (20-3).

Cambridge (22-0) is the No. 2 seed and will play Grand Island Central Catholic (18-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The winner will play Friday in the semifinals against the winner of the 8:45 p.m. first round game between Elmwood-Murdock (18-4) vs. Sutton (21-1).

The semifinals are 2 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. Friday at Pershing Auditorium.

The third-place game is at 9 p.m. and the championship is 5 p.m. Saturday at the Devaney Sports Center.

Arapahoe (19-6) is the No. 5 seed in the Class D1 state tournament and will play Humphrey-Saint Francis (15-5) in a first round game at 3:45 p.m. Thursday at the Lincoln North Star gym.

The winner will play Friday in the semifinals against the winner of the 2 p.m. first round game between Lawrence-Nelson (15-3) versus No. 1 seed Bancroft-Rosalie (24-0).

The other first-round matchups in Class D1 are Hay Springs (17-5) versus (Pope John (23-2) at 9 a.m., followed by Meridian (18-5) versus Humphrey (19-3) at 10:45 a.m.

The semifinals are 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Friday at Pershing Auditorium.

The third-place game is 9:30 a.m. and the championship is 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Devaney Sports Center.

Class C2-5 girls

Cambridge 49, Ravenna 46 OT

LEXINGTON -- The Cambridge Trojan girls basketball team won a thriller over a talented and balanced Ravenna in overtime Friday night in Lexington.

The Trojans overpowered Ravenna 49-46 at the Class C2-5 district finals and took home the district title.

After a slow first quarter by both teams that found the Trojans trailing by 2, Ravenna jumped out to an 11-point lead in the second quarter.

In the final minute, Cambridge cut the lead to seven in the final minute. The Trojans went into half time trailing 20-13.

"I felt we were doing a lot of things the way we wanted to but we needed to do two things better, we were four for 13 on free throws in the first half and we weren't executing our offense which is a credit to the great defense the Bluejays were playing," said Cambridge girls coach Andy Long.

"I felt the free throws at the end of the first half gave us some momentum heading into the locker room. The girls knew that they had missed some opportunities in the first half and came out confident in the third quarter."

The Trojans came out in the third quarter and scored seven points to tie the game at 20. From that point on, neither team held a lead greater than three points.

"I am very proud of how our girls played defense during the whole game, especially down the stretch in the fourth quarter and overtime," said Long. "We did a great job of boxing out of and getting after the rebounds."

In the second half, the Trojans were 16 of 23 free throws. Traci Keyser led the team with 21 points, seven of those during overtime. Shelby Schultz dominated the boards by pulling down 14 rebounds.

Soucie had 8 assists. She played one assist off an out-of-bounds play that Keyser scored on and was fouled, giving the Trojans a three-point cushion with less than a minute to play.

"Bailey Soucie and Frankie Peterson did a tremendous job of handling the ball for us," said Long. "Cody Long, Whitney Rice, Kellie Ballou and Lynae Lytle did a great job rotating into the game and allowed us to give our starters the rest they needed to finish the game strong.

"I think a turning point for us came in the second half, during a 22-second stretch, Soucie drilled a 3-pointer and Ravenna answered with one of their own.

"We came back down the floor and Soucie nailed another 3-pointer to answer theirs. I feel the girls realized at this point the game could be theirs if they wanted it."

Cambridge: Frankie Petersen 1-7 6-8 8, Rice 0-3 0-2 0, Bailey Soucie 4-5 1-4 12, Traci Keyser 6-12 10-13 22, Shelby Schultz 2-5 3-5 7, Long 0-1 0-2 0, Ballou 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-34 20-36 49.

D1-5 girls

Arapahoe 55, Arnold 25

GOTHENBURG -- The Arapahoe girls basketball team will be making its second straight state tournament appearance.

The Warrior girls defeated Arnold 55-25 in the D1-5 District Final Friday night in Gothenburg.

Arapahoe held a 6-2 advantage late in the first quarter, but a 10-2 Warriors run quickly blew the game wide open.

Arapahoe led 28-12 at halftime and 44-17 at the end of the third quarter.

Arapahoe's Cheryl Braithwait posted a game-high 27 points.

Arnold finished the season with a 16-6 record.

Arapahoe: Cathy Paulsen 6, Cayla Polston 2, Amy Breinig 2, Brittany Fanning 5, Michelle Borden 6, Cheryl Braithwait 27, Jessica Stagemeyer 7.

Class D2-6 Girls

Pleasanton 64, Maywood 33

COZAD (North Platte Bulletin) -- Maywood played No. 2 ranked Pleasanton evenly in the first half of the showdown Friday, but the Tigers could not find the basket in the second half.

The game was still up for grabs at halftime, with Pleasanton holding a five-point lead, 27-22.

But Pleasanton roared to life and scored 25 points in the third quarter while Maywood could only manage four.

"We just couldn't put the ball in the hoop," Maywood coach Kim Stengel said. "We missed layups, free throws at pivotal times."

Pleasanton (22-1) showed why they are highly-ranked.

Pleasanton hit 44 percent of its field goals and 80 percent of free throws during the game. And, they out-rebounded Maywood, 55-31.

Maywood took more shots than Pleasanton, but hit only 16 percent from the field and 35 percent from the line.

No Maywood player scored in double figures. Makalya Gardner was the leading Tiger scorer. She had 8 points.

Stengel said the Tigers worked hard to slow Pleasanton's offense. Pleasanton had 28 turnovers to just 13 for Maywood.

"We took care of the ball and put pressure on them to slow down," she said. "We just couldn't convert turnovers to points."

Stengel said the team, which finishes with a 17-6 record and within one win of a state tournament berth, had a fine season.

Maywood finishes with the 12th best rating in Class D2, according to the Nebraska Schools Athletic Association.

"We need to be proud of our accomplishments," Stengel said.

Class D1-6 girls

Hay Springs beats Eustis-Farnam on buzzer beater

OGALLALA -- Ashton Hughes drained a buzzer beating 3-pointer to give the Hays Springs Hawks a stunning 44-42 overtime win over Eustis-Farnam Friday night in the D1-6 district championship game.

Jacey Schultheiss put the Knights up 42-41 after making a free throw with nine seconds left on the clock, but the Knights were unable to hold on and narrowly missed out on another state tournament bid.

Eustis-Farnam's Katie Fagot led all scorers with 14 points, while Schultheiss added 13 for Eustis-Farnam, who ends the season with a 17-3 record.

Schultheiss had 12 rebounds and Jordan Rieker 7.

Hughes and Trisha Kudrna each scored 12 points, while Brenna Jungck added 11 to lead Hay Springs (17-5) to their first state tournament appearance.

Eustis-Farnam finished the season with a 17-3 record.