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I shouldn’t feel this way with March Madness just getting started, I filled out three of my seven or eight brackets already.
But I have to tell you, the Monday after the boys’ state tournament is like a day of mourning for me.
It’s the same feeling I get on that fateful Tuesday in November, Memorial Day weekend and the first week in August.
All four of those times are the end of a season. Although those dates are in reference to boys’ sports, that is just the fact the football championships are after cross country, volleyball and softball; the boys’ state tournament is after wrestling and girls’ basketball; state track is after state golf and Legion baseball ends what I call the sports calendar year.
We wrapped up the girls last week and we had a couple of teams down in Lincoln this past week in the boys’ tournament.
Wynot made its nearly annual trek to Lincoln and hung around long enough to bring the second-largest trophy to this neck of the woods, and Cedar Catholic had a one-day stay in Lincoln, but not before giving Cross County and everyone at the game some anxious moments full of resiliency and hope.
Let’s start with the Trojans. Cedar Catholic was making its 24th trip to the Nebraska Basketball Championships and its fourth consecutive journey south.
“We made it all four years I was here at Cedar, but I never took it for granted or thought we were ‘entitled’ to get there every year,” said Trojan senior Braeden Reifenrath. “It took a lot of hard work, we played a lot of great teams to get there, it was very rewarding and a lot of fun.”
His teammate, Jaymison Cattau, agreed.
“To make it all four years has kind of grown to an expectation around here at Cedar,” Cattau said. “When we were younger we were part of the team, but as we got older, we became the leaders, it kind of puts a stamp on our time here. It was a great ride.” This group of seniors was only the fourth group to qualify all four years in the history of Cedar Catholic. The 1994 Trojans, the 1995 Trojans, the 2013 Trojans and this group are the elite of the elite.
Cedar Catholic came up short against the Cougars, 41-38, and although disappointed, coach Nick Haselhorst was still very proud of his team.
