Class D2 Boys State Basketball Preview
By Dean Backes
The Nebraska boys take their turn at center court this weekend and will crown six state champions over the course of the next four days. While many of the same programs are back in the hunt, there are plenty of schools making it on the brackets after missing the chaos for a year or two, or more.
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.
While there are no rematches scheduled for Thursday’s Class D2 quarterfinal action, there is plenty of basketball excitement on the docket. MaxPreps top-ranked St. Mary’s and No. 8 Silver Lake will kick off Class D2 state tournament action Thursday at 9 AM at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Then, No. 3 Archangels Catholic and sixth-ranked Stuart will go head-to-head at about 10:45 AM at PBA. At 6 PM at Devaney, No. 4 Wausa and seventh-ranked Fullerton tipoff their 2025 state basketball experience. No. 2 Wynot will then face fifth-ranked Elgin Public/Pope John at 7:45 PM at Devaney.
Now, let’s take a look at the weekend’s Class D2 field.
Picking the Class D2 Field
No. 1 St. Mary’s (21-5) over No. 8 Silver Lake (19-6)
No. 3 Archangels Catholic (19-6) over No. 6 Stuart (18-6)
No. 4 Wausa (23-3) over No. 7 Fullerton (17-8)
No. 2 Wynot (19-7) over No. 5 Elgin Public/Pope John (16-10)
No. 1 St. Mary’s (22-5) over No. 3 Archangels Catholic (20-6)
No. 2 Wynot (20-7) over No. 4 Wausa (24-3)
Championship: No. 1 St. Mary’s (23-5) over No. 2 Wynot (21-7)
Consolation: No. 3 Archangels Catholic (20-7) over No. 4 Wausa (24-4)
Dark Horse: Fullerton
Nebraska Class D2 Boys Scoring Leaders
Gage Hedstrom, St. Mary’s 479 Points (18.4)
Kane Wetovick, Fullerton 451 Points (18.0)
Logan Brabec, St. Mary’s 371 Points (14.3)
Ben Barlow, St. Mary’s 243 Points (14.3)
Hunter Tubbs, Stuart 341 Points (14.2)
Jarek Erickson, Elgin Public/Pope John 370 Points (14.2)
Landon Duester, Silver Lake 325 Points (13.0)
Gavynn Mustin, Stuart 130 Points (13.0)
Lane Conway, Silver Lake 308 Points (12.3)
Karson Kallhoff, Elgin Public/Pope John 317 Points (12.2)
Kayde Ramm, Stuart 278 Points (12.1)
Matthew Schindler, Wausa 302 Points (12.1)
Brenden Johannes, Archangels Catholic 273 Points (11.4)
Kellan Hoefer, Elgin Public/Pope John 292 Points (11.2)
Ethan Wieseler, Archangels Catholic 256 Points (10.7)
Nebraska Class D2 Boys Rebound Leaders
Kane Wetovick, Fullerton 281 Rebounds (11.2)
Hunter Tubbs, Stuart 217 Rebounds (9.0)
Jarek Erickson, Elgin Public/Pope John 232 Rebounds (8.9)
Gavynn Mustin, Stuart 80 Rebounds (8.0)
Ethan Wieseler, Archangels Catholic 162 Rebounds (6.8)
Preston Schlote, Wausa 169 Rebounds (6.8)
Benjamin Paxton, Stuart 142 Rebounds (6.2)
Kasen Koch, Wynot 104 Rebounds (6.1)
Landon Duester, Silver Lake 147 Rebounds (5.9)
Gage Hedstrom, St. Mary’s 150 Rebounds (5.8)
Casey Conway, Silver Lake 143 Rebounds (5.7)
Nolan Dubas, Fullerton 130 Rebounds (5.4)
Braden Bloomquist, Wausa 131 Rebounds (5.2)
Lane Conway, Silver Lake 124 Rebounds (5.0)
Nebraska Class D2 Boys Assist Leaders
Killian Steinhaus, Wynot 99 Assists (3.8)
Jarek Erickson, Elgin Public/Pope John 99 Assists (3.8)
Logan Brabec, St. Mary’s 95 Assists (3.7)
Kayde Ramm, Stuart 78 Assists (3.4)
Kane Wetovick, Fullerton 85 Assists (3.4)
Ben Barlow, St. Mary’s 56 Assists (3.3)
Gage Hedstrom, St. Mary’s 72 Assists (2.8)
Benjamin Paxton, Stuart 62 Assists (2.7)
Terrick Gonsior, Fullerton 65 Assists (2.6)
Colton Baue, Wausa 52 Assists (2.4)
Mac Carlson, Wausa 59 Assists (2.4)
Matthew Schindler, Wausa 59 Assists (2.4)
Paxton Sorensen, Silver Lake 54 Assists (2.3)
Casey Conway, Silver Lake 57 Assists (2.3)
Devon Baumgart, Archangels Catholic 53 Assists (2.2)
Jameson Estill, Stuart 48 Assists (2.0)
Karson Kallhoff, Elgin Public/Pope John 52 Assists (2.0)
Etan Wieseler, Archangels Catholic 49 Assists (2.0)
Nebraska Class D2 Boys Steal Leaders
Devon Baumgart, Archangels Catholic 96 Steals (4.0)
Gavynn Mustin, Stuart 32 Steals (3.2)
Drew Schmaderer, Stuart 71 Steals (3.0)
Kayde Ramm, Stuart 67 Steals (2.9)
Ethan Wieseler, Archangels Catholic 70 Steals (2.9)
Casey Conway, Silver Lake 63 Steals (2.5)
Logan Brabec, St. Mary’s 60 Steals (2.3)
Tucker Czarnick, Archangels Catholic 56 Steals (2.3)
Lane Conway, Silver Lake 55 Steals (2.2)
Mac Carlson, Wausa 56 Steals (2.2)
Benjamin Paxton, Stuart 48 Steals (2.1)
Brenden Johannes, Archangels Catholic 48 Steals (2.0)
Nebraska Class D2 Boys Block Leaders
Hunter Tubbs, Stuart 35 Blocks (1.5)
Gavynn Mustin, Stuart 14 Blocks (1.4)
Brenden Johannes, Archangels Catholic 31 Blocks (1.3)
Kane Wetovick, Fullerton 27 Blocks (1.1)
Preston Schlote, Wausa 24 Blocks (1.0)
Hunter Gochenour, Fullerton 17 Blocks (0.7)
Jarek Erickson, Elgin Public/Pope John 13 Blocks (0.5)
Gage Braun, Archangels Catholic 12 Blocks (0.5)
Mac Carlson, Wausa 12 Blocks (0.5)