LINCOLN -- After the way last year's state tournament ended, Wahoo Neumann's C-1 championship this year had to be especially sweet.

The Cavaliers lost in overtime to Columbus Scotus in the 2018 title game, but came back one season later to defeat Lincoln Christian for their third championship.

Neumann coach Jason Simons has downplayed that disappointing finish, and that notion was reinforced by senior Kelsie Cada.

"In the beginning it drove us crazy,'' she said. "But we knew we just had to play our best this season and take it game by game.''

Credit the schedule

Wahoo Neumann coach Jason Simons credited his team's tough schedule for preparing it for state.

A glance at that schedule bears it out. The Cavaliers posted late-season wins over ranked foes Wahoo, Fremont Bergan, David City Aquinas and Lincoln Christian.

"We finished the year special,'' he said. "That would be a heck of a run for any team.''

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Posting a sweep

Fremont Bergan's victory over Dundy County-Stratton gave the Knights a sweep of the volleyball and girls basketball titles this season.

The last Class D-1 squad to accomplish that feat was O'Neill St. Mary's during the 2014-15 season. St. Mary's went 34-0 to win volleyball and 25-2 to capture the girls basketball title.

There were seven players who were on both the Bergan volleyball and basketball teams.

Later in the night, Millard North also posted a Class A sweep of volleyball and girls basketball.

That's my spot

When you score 23 points in a championship victory, you should pretty much have carte blanche to do whatever you want after the game.

That's what made it funny when Grand Island Northwest's Whitney Brown tried sitting in the moderator's seat when she showed up for the postgame press conference.

The moderator shooed her away, though he was scolded for it by at least one reporter.

"She just won the title ... let her sit where she wants,'' the reporter said.

Oops ... forgot something

The postgame interview area provided another light moment after Fremont Bergan's Class D-1 championship win.

Knights coach Nate Pribnow showed up with his players, went through the interviews and then headed out of the room.

He forgot one thing ... the championship trophy (which he came back to get).

Attendance

Saturday’s games at Pinnacle Bank Arena drew 6,094 for the day session and 4,863 for the three evening games.

With 1,733 at Lincoln East for consolations, the three-day reported attendance was 57,301, a slight decrease from 2018.

Sportsmanship awards

The winners of the annual sportsmanship awards, as presented by the Nebraska Coaches Association:

Class A: Lincoln Pius X; Class B: Grand Island Northwest; Class C-1: Wahoo; Class C-2: Superior; Class D-1: Fremont Bergan; Class D-2: Sterling.

Photos: 2019 Nebraska girls state basketball title games

Champions were crowned on Saturday March 2, 2019 in Lincoln. 

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