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LINCOLN - Cedar Catholic bowed out in the opening round of the 202324 Class C2 Nebraska Basketball Tournament here at the Bob Devaney Sports Center with what turned into a 17-point loss, to eventual runner-up, Lincoln Lutheran, Wednesday afternoon.
The Warriors defeated the Trojans 67-50 after the teams battled neck-andneck for the first 16 minutes.
Jaymison Cattau, Alex Kuehn and Nolan Becker kept Cedar Catholic in the game until the waning minutes of the first half.
In fact, the Trojans led 25-23 after Cattau hit his third 3 of the first half, but as they did all game long, the Warriors answered with a 3 of their own to take a 26-25 lead and extended the advantage to 29-25 with another long ball with 3:59 left before the intermission, causing Cedar Catholic coach Nick Haselhorst to call a timeout.
“We were scoring well in the first half but weren’t able to get consecutive stops defensively to make a substantial scoring run,” Cedar Catholic coach, Nick Haselhorst said. “We’d make a shot and take a one or two-point lead and they’d come back with a 3-point shot or a lay up to take the lead back.”
Becker converted a traditional 3-point play to bring it back to a single point with 3:44 left in the half, but Lincoln Lutheran scored the final six points of the first half including an offensive rebound and put-back at the buzzer.
“We allowed ‘leaky’ points when we didn’t finish possessions,” said Haselhorst. “Both possessions to end the first and second quarters, we forced a contested jump shot but we didn’t box out and allowed a put back at the buzzer. Those were back breaking momentum plays that proved to be costly and too much to overcome.”
Becker would score first in the second half on a fast break to make it 35-30, but a driving basket by the Warriors, a 3 and a shot inside after an offensive rebound by Jacob Duitsman, who finished with a game-high 27 points, made it 42-30, forcing Haselhorst to call another timeout with 4:43 left in the third frame, but another Lutheran long ball coming out of the break made it 45-30.
Back-to-back buckets by Kuehn, one on a fast break and one on an offensive rebound and put back, but again, a Warrior 3 and a couple of charity tosses and the Lincoln Lutheran advantage was back up to 16, 50-34.
Becker flexed his muscles and scored on a 12-foot jumper and a drive in the paint with 1:15 left in the third period and the frame ended with the Trojans within striking distance at 50-38.
A Becker fall-away jumper to open the final eight minutes made it a 10-point game, but an old-fashioned 3-point play by the Warriors took the lead back to 13.
Cattau stole the ball after a Cedar bucket and found Becker inside to make it 53-44. Kuehn would score later in the quarter to make it 57-46, but Lincoln Lutheran went on a 10-0 run to put the game away and win its first state tournament game in school history, 67-50.
In the first quarter, Cattau hit Kuehn inside who was fouled, he failed to convert the 3-point play but the score was tied 2-2.
After a Lincoln Lutheran 3, Kuehn responded with a drive to the bucket and scored on a fast break to give the Trojans their first lead of the game 6-5 with 5:30 left in the first frame.
Back-to-back baskets by the Warriors took the lead away but a Cattau long ball and a bucket inside by Becker made it 11-9 in favor of Cedar Catholic, but a Lincoln Lutheran 3 and basket made it 14-11 before Mason Baller tied it up with a 3 of his own with just under 90 seconds remaining in the first.
The score remained tied at 14-14 until the Warriors hit a bucket inside at the buzzer.
“The game started at a frenetic pace with both teams getting up and down the floor quickly,” Haselhorst said. “”We knew Lincoln Lutheran prides itself on offensive transition, we outscored them in transition points, but we allowed some easy ones and we were never able to seize control of the tempo of the game.”
Kuehn finished his final game as a Trojan with a team-high 16 points, Becker added 15 and Cattau tossed in 11.
Hunter Bensen hauled down six rebounds, Cattau, Becker and Thoene each grabbed five missed shots.
Thoene handed out five assists, Cattau had four. Cedar Catholic finished the season with a 19-7 record. Lincoln Lutheran finished 19-9 and lost in overtime in the C2 finals, to Amherst, 59-54.
“The result of the game was not the outcome we wanted, however, the season-long journey and the accomplishment of getting to Lincoln was rewarding and joyful,” the coach said. “The key for our underclassmen is to remember the experiences and the heartache and use it as motivation to improve so we can get back next year and win three games down there.”
LL 16 19 15 17 - 67 CC 14 14 10 12 - 50
P=Points, R=Rebounds, A=Assists, S=Steals, B=Blocks.
LINCOLN LUTHERAN (18-8): Braxton Glines 1-2 0-0 3P, 1R; Logan Lebo 2-4 2-2 6P, 4R, 2A, 1S, 1B; Jacob Duitsman 10-19 3-4 27P, 7R, 2A, 6S; Grant Stowell 2-5 1-2 7P, 1R, 4A, 3S; Trent Ernst 1-1 2-4 4P, 4R; Ryan Hager 6-11 2-3 16P, 2R, 1A, 1S; Nathan Holle 2-3 0-0 4P, 4R 4A, 1S; Jason Steider 0-1 0-0 0P, 1B. CEDAR CATHOLIC (19-7): Alex Kuehn 8-13 0-1 16P, 3R, 2A, 2S, 1B; Jaymison Cattau 4-10 0-0 11P, 5R, 4A, 2S; Nolan Becker 7-19 1-1 15P, 5R, 1A, 1S; Ty Thoene 0-3 1-2 1P, 5R, 5A, 1S; Sam Kuehn 2-2 0-0 4P; Mason Baller 1-1 0-0 3P, 1R, 1A; Breiton Whitmire 0-0 0-0 0P, 2A; Braeden Reifenrath 0-4 0-0 0P, 4R, 2A; Kighter Wortmann 0-0 0-0 0P, 1S; Hunter Bensen 0-3 0-0 0P, 6R; Jacob Steffen 0-0 0-0 0P, 1R, 1A.
