LINCOLN — From the national stage to the smallest town council rooms, politicians often find “commitment” to be a dirty word. And Saturday, Jerry Johnson’s wardrobe change while attending the Class C-1 girls state championship game proved him no exception.

But for this unprecedented issue, the Wahoo mayor can be forgiven for riding the fence.

So when Mayor Johnson took a moment at halftime to swap his red T-shirt commemorating the state tournament run of Wahoo’s Neumann High School for the blue and gold colors of the Wahoo Public High School Warriors, none of his constituents gave him a second look.

“I believe this is quite unique,” Johnson said.

Saturday’s game between Wahoo and Neumann was, in fact, unique. It marked the first time in Nebraska prep basketball history that two schools from the same town advanced to face each other in a state championship game below Class A.

Intra-city matchups between large Lincoln and Omaha schools are common in state tournaments. But while contact between those fan bases may be limited by the sheer size of the city, there is nothing but interaction in Wahoo — population 3,800 — where school allegiance is one of the few things to divide neighbors, co-workers, churchgoers and friends.

In many ways, Wahoo vs. Neumann is a rivalry in name only. The players from both teams grew up together. Their families work together. Many families worship together. Father Brian Kane, Neumann’s principal, is the priest for Wahoo coach Linda Walker.

And in some cases, Saturday’s game literally was a family affair. Warrior junior Paige Otte and Neumann senior Kelsey Morrissey are first cousins — both are nieces of Cavaliers coach Rick Ahrens. Wahoo’s stars are sharp-shooting sisters Mattie and Sadie Murren, whose cousin, Sarah Reeves, won a state title with Neumann last year.

Neumann junior Alyssa Stanek, who led the Cavaliers with 25 points in Saturday’s final, played in the town’s WAHOOPS youth basketball program with most of her Wahoo High opponents. She said the rivalry between the two schools is a good-natured one.

“I have a lot of friends on the Wahoo team,” Stanek said. “Like pretty much all of them.”

Rob Brigham, a member of the Wahoo school board, turned out in his blue and gold Saturday. Brigham employs alumni of both schools at JEO Consulting, his architecture and engineering firm in Wahoo. Many local businesses, he said, take pride in supporting both schools. It’s common to pick up a program in both schools’ gyms for a Friday night game and see the same businesses advertise.

“We try to support each school as much as we can in a lot of different ways,” Brigham said. “A lot of businesses do. They’re not being careful. I think they’re just honest that they want to support both.”

If it were going to happen anywhere, it is no surprise that the first smaller town to grab both spots in a championship game is Wahoo — a hoops-crazy community that sits 30 miles north of Lincoln and 30 miles west of Omaha.

The defending state champion Cavaliers are a fixture at the state tournament, having qualified 12 times and appeared in the championship game three straight seasons.

And while the fifth-seeded Warriors made an unexpected run this year to their first girls state final, the Warrior boys program used to be the definition of dominance. Wahoo won eight boys state championships from 1988 to 1998, and at one point won 114 games in a row — the third-longest streak in the history of high school basketball.

“We have a real strong basketball culture and tradition. It carries over class to class and generation to generation,” said Greg Hohl, president of Wahoo State Bank, who played on Neumann’s state qualifying boys team in 1973. Saturday, Hohl was in the front row of the Warriors’ fan block. His three children attend Wahoo High.

With the level of familiarity between the two schools, it was no surprise that there was plenty of support for both teams Saturday. What appeared to be the entire town turned out and provided an electric atmosphere worthy of the stage. The student bodies alternated cheers and chanted nonstop.

Warriors fans exploded when Wahoo completed a fourth-quarter comeback to force overtime on a last-second layup by Sadie Murren. And after the Cavaliers composed themselves to finish off a breathtaking 58-55 overtime win, everyone cheered as players from both teams received their medals and mingled with one another as they exited the arena, perhaps discussing the townwide celebration to be held in the next couple of weeks to commemorate both teams’ achievements.

“It’s really a pretty close-knit community,” Johnson said. “It’s just a good mix of people.”

That was the one thing Saturday that everyone from Wahoo could agree on.

Contact the writer:

444-1201, sports@owh.com

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