Class D1 Girls State Basketball Preview
By Dean Backes
It’s ladies up first in Nebraska when it comes to putting on the show that decides which basketball programs take home the championship hardware. While many of the same programs are back in the hunt, there are no guarantees when it comes to March Madness.
Here at Heartland Prep Basketball Scoop, we’ve taken some time to crunch numbers and pick the field ahead of this weekend’s State Basketball Tournament. Then, we gathered data from MaxPreps and elsewhere to make a list of the state tournament’s top players.
Two rematches highlight the Class D1 quarterfinal schedule Wednesday. Defending D1 champion Pender and tournament regular Howells-Dodge await their rubber match early Wednesday morning. The Jaguars took round No. 1 with a 52-40 triumph in January. The Pendragons even the score a month later, 69-44.
In the 10:45 AM quarterfinal Superior and Alma will square off once again. The Wildcats upended Alma 53-34 during regular season play. Elm Creek and Diller-Odell will battle it out in another quarterfinal while Southwest and Hartington Cedar Catholic will square off in D1’s night cap at 7:45 PM.
Now, let’s take a look at the weekend’s Class D1 field.
Picking the Field for Class D1
No. 1 Pender (25-2) over No. 6 Howells-Dodge (17-9)
No. 4 Superior (21-4) over No. 7 Alma (20-6)
No. 2 Elm Creek (24-1) over No. 8 Diller-Odell (18-7)
No. 3 Southwest (23-1) over No. 5 Hartington Cedar Catholic (15-11)
No. 1 Pender (26-2) over No. 4 Superior (22-4)
No. 2 Elm Creek (25-1) over No. 3 Southwest (24-1)
Championship: No. 1 Pender (27-2) over No. 2 Elm Creek (26-1)
Consolation: No. 3 Southwest (24-2) over No. 4 Superior (22-5)
Dark Horse: Howells-Dodge
Class D1 Girls Scoring Leaders
Myleigh Weers, Diller-Odell 578 Points (23.1)
Aspen Billeter, Southwest 390 Points (16.2)
Reagan Meyers, Superior 370 Points (16.1)
Maya Dolliver, Pender 427 Points (15.8)
Hadley Walsh, Pender 325 Points (15.5)
Sadie Cornell, Superior 355 Points (15.4)
Ashley Bauer, Elm Creek 365 Points (14.6)
Kamryn Scott, Alma 364 Points (14.0)
Madalyn Dolliver, Pender 355 Points (13.1)
Kendal Cavenee, Elm Creek 312 Points (12.5)
Kyra Nelms, Southwest 298 Points (12.4)
Anisten Wortmann, Hartington Cedar Catholic 318 Points (12.2)
Addison Walter, Hartington Cedar Catholic 292 Points (11.7)
Tierston Moore, Alma 294 Points (11.3)
Jordyn Ratzlaff, Howells-Dodge 277 Points (10.7)
Halle Bargen, Superior 253 Points (10.5)
Class D1 Girls Rebound Leaders
Reagan Meyers, Superior 278 Rebounds (12.1)
Halle Bargen, Superior 224 Rebounds (9.3)
Kyra Nelms, Southwest 209 Rebounds (8.7)
Hadley Walsh, Pender 158 Rebounds (7.5)
Aspen Billeter, Southwest 172 Rebounds (7.2)
Tierston Moore, Alma 183 Rebounds (7.0)
Maya Dolliver, Pender 169 Rebounds (6.3)
Addison Walter, Hartington Cedar Catholic 156 Rebounds (6.2)
Ryann Erickson, Elm Creek 154 Rebounds (6.2)
Katelyn Arens, Hartington Cedar Catholic 155 Rebounds (6.0)
Myleigh Weers, Diller-Odell 149 Rebounds (6.0)
Halle Knapp, Elm Creek 147 Rebounds (5.9)
Chayse Molzahn, Alma 142 Rebounds (5.5)
Kylie Brichacek, Howells-Dodge 140 Rebounds (5.4)
Celsea Kottich, Elm Creek 128 Rebounds (5.1)
Anisten Wortmann, Hartington Cedar Catholic 131 Rebounds (5.0)
Kamri Neal, Alma 129 Rebounds (5.0)
Class D1 Girls Assist Leaders
Kendal Cavenee, Elm Creek 100 Assists (4.0)
Maya Dolliver, Pender 105 Assists (3.9)
Faith Anne Butler, Superior 88 Assists (3.7)
Myleigh Weers, Diller-Odell 89 Assists (3.6)
Anastasia Gallegos, Southwest 84 Assists (3.5)
Hadley Walsh, Pender 65 Assists (3.1)
Allison Vanpelt, 67 Assists (2.9)
Kamryn Scott, Alma 71 Assists (2.7)
Halle Bargen, Superior 64 Assists (2.7)
Tierston Moore, Alma 65 Assists (2.5)
Jade Bayer, Howells-Dodge 65 Assists (2.5)
Kyra Nelms, Southwest 60 Assists (2.5)
Sadie Cornell, Superior 57 Assists (2.5)
Kamri Neal, Alma 64 Assists (2.5)
Kylie Brichacek, Howells-Dodge 60 Assists (2.3)
Kyla Krusemark, Pender 60 Assists (2.2)
Peyten Becker, Howells-Dodge 57 Assists (2.2)
Lauren Bernecker, Hartington Cedar Catholic 54 Assists (2.1)
Halle Knapp, Elm Creek 51 Assists (2.0)
Class D1 Girls Steal Leaders
Myleigh Weers, Diller-Odell 109 Steals (4.4)
Kendal Cavenee, Elm Creek 104 Steals (4.2)
Kamryn Scott, Alma 98 Steals (3.8)
Sadie Cornell, Superior 84 Steals (3.7)
Tierston Moore, Alma 94 Steals (3.6)
Allison Vanpelt, Soutwest 76 Steals (3.3)
Aspen Billeter, Southwest 72 Steals (3.0)
Ryann Erickson, Elm Creek 67 Steals (2.7)
Jade Bayer, Howells-Dodge 68 Steals (2.6)
Anastasia Gallegos, Southwest 62 Steals (2.6)
Miley Whitney, Alma 65 Steals (2.5)
Halle Bargen, Superior 59 Steals (2.5)
Faith Anne Butler, Superior 59 Steals (2.5)
Teagan McDaniel, Elm Creek 61 Steals (2.4)
Madalyn Dolliver, Pender 61 Steals (2.3)
Anisten Wortmann, Hartington Cedar Catholic 55 Steals (2.1)
Kyra Nelms, Southwest 49 Steals (2.0)
Kamri Neal, Alma 52 Steals (2.0)
Lauren Bernecker, Hartington Cedar Catholic 52 Steals (2.0)
Vayden Epp, Alma 50 Steals (2.0)
Jordyn Ratzlaff, Howells-Dodge 51 Steals (2.0)
Halle Knapp, Elm Creek 49 Steals (2.0)
Class D1 Girls Blocks
Reagan Meyers, Superior 54 Blocks (2.3)
Kyra Nelms, Southwest 37 Blocks (1.5)
Halle Knapp, Elm Creek 30 Blocks (1.2)
Cayse Molzahn, Alma 27 Blocks (1.0)
Hadley Walsh, Pender 17 Blocks (0.8)
Baileigh Vilda, Diller-Odell 18 Blocks (0.8)
Kenadie Throener, Howells-Dodge 19 Blocks (0.7)
Peyten Becker, Howells-Dodge 18 Blocks (0.7)
Madeline Parde, Diller-Odell 11 Blocks (0.7)
Lauren Bernecker, Hartington Cedar Catholic 17 Blocks (0.7)
Chelsea Kottich, Elm Creek 16 Blocks (0.6)
Jordyn Ratzlaff, owells-Dodge 16 Blocks (0.6)
Myra Hansen, Pender 16 Blocks (0.6)
Halle Bargen, Superior 14 Blocks (0.6)
Anisten Wortmann, Hartington Cedar Catholic 15 Blocks (0.6)
Madalyn Dolliver, Pender 14 Blocks (0.5)
Myleigh Weers, Diller-Odell 12 Blocks (0.5)
Allie Rutar, Pender 12 Blocks (0.5)
Kylie Brichacek, Howells-Dodge 12 Blocks (0.5)
Anastasia Gallegos, Southwest 11 Blocks (0.5)
Kaylee Schroeder, Pender 10 Blocks (0.5)