Class D2 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 state 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.
One rematch kicks off the Class D2 field on Thursday when Shelton carries its classification leading 25-game winning streak against Wilcox-Hildreth Thursday morning. The MaxPreps second-ranked Bulldogs knocked off the No. 7 Falcons 42-28 in December.
Sixth-ranked Dorchester is making its first state tournament appearance since 2004 while No. 4 Silver Lake last played in Lincoln in March in 2010. They will take the court against each other at 10:45 AM Thursday. Top-ranked Falls City Sacred Heart is making its 14th straight state tournament appearance and goes into battle against No. 10 Anselmo-Merna.
Fifth-ranked Archangels Catholic might be making its first state tournament appearance since the school’s name changed from Humphrey St. Francis. But Bryan Reichmuth, who is guiding his basketball program to its eighth straight appearance, will square off against No. 3 St. Mary’s at 7:45 PM at Devaney.
Now, let’s take a look at the weekend’s Class D2 field.
Picking the Field for Class D2
No. 2 Shelton (25-1) over No. 7 Wilcox-Hildreth (18-8)
No. 4 Silver Lake (21-4) over No. 6 Dorchester (23-2)
No. 1 Falls City Sacred Heart (23-4) over No. 10 Anselmo-Merna (20-5)
No. 5 Archangels Catholic (19-7) over No. 3 St. Mary’s (24-2)
No. 2 Shelton (26-1) over No. 4 Silver Lake (22-4)
No. 1 Falls City Sacred Heart (24-4) over No. 5 Archangels Catholic (20-7)
Championship: No. 1 Falls City Sacred Heart (25-4) over No. 2 Shelton (27-1)
Consolation: No. 5 Archangels Catholic (20-8) over No. 4 Silver Lake (22-5)
Dark Horse: St. Mary’s
Class D2 Girls Scoring Leaders
Ellie Morgan, Shelton 447 Points (17.2)
Jentry Lechtenberg, Falls City Sacred Heart 395 Points (15.2)
Erin Gegg, Shelton 379 Points (14.6)
Makenna Miller, Anselmo-Merna 349 Points (14.5)
Gracie Williamson, St. Mary’s 378 Points (14.5)
Madison Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 356 Points (13.7)
Adyson Peterson, St. Mary’s 339 Points (13.0)
Sophie Schmidt, Silver Lake 314 Points (12.6)
Gabrielle Theis, Dorchester 276 Points (12.0)
Pyper Ickes, St. Mary’s 306 Points (11.8)
Daycee Witt, Falls City Sacred Heart 303 Points (11.2)
Isabel Preister, Archangels Catholic 291 Points (11.2)
Class D2 Girls Rebound Leaders
Madison Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 241 Rebounds (9.3)
Jentry Lechtenberg, Falls City Sacred Heart 231 Rebounds (8.9)
Bailey Theis, Dorchester 202 Rebounds (8.8)
Kayley Klein, Anselmo-Merna 167 Rebounds (7.3)
Hallie Jones, Falls City Sacred Heart 192 Rebounds (7.1)
Gracie Williamson, St. Mary’s 181 Rebounds (7.0)
Isabel Preister, Archangels Catholic 175 Rebounds (6.8)
Rhianen Myers, Anselmo-Merna 163 Rebounds (6.8)
Shayleigh Coleman, Anselmo-Merna 162 Rebounds (6.8)
Makenna Karr, Silver Lake 164 Rebounds (6.6)
Erin Gegg, Shelton 164 Rebounds (6.3)
Cara Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 154 Rebounds (5.9)
Katy Soucek, Silver Lake 145 Rebounds (5.8)
Makenna Miller, Anselmo-Merna 138 Rebounds (5.8)
Emerson Mlnarik, St. Mary’s 144 Rebounds (5.5)
Pyper Ickes, St. Mary’s 143 Rebounds (5.5)
Daycee Witt, Falls City Sacred Heart 138 Rebounds (5.1)
Class D2 Girls Assist Leaders
Pyper Ickes, St. Mary’s 163 Assists (6.3)
Makenna Miller, Anselmo-Merna 143 Assists (6.0)
Nyla Kessler, Archangels Catholic 109 Assists (4.2)
Cara Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 103 Assists (4.0)
Susanna Cheney, Shelton 101 Assists (3.9)
Rhianen Myers, Anselmo-Merna 84 Assists (3.5)
Daycee Witt, Falls City Sacred Heart 93 Assists (3.4)
Annabelle Barlow, St. Mary’s 81 Assists (3.1)
Sophie Schmidt, Silver Lake 74 Assists (3.0)
Atley Zoubek, Dorchester 61 Assists (2.7)
Gracie Williamson, St. Mary’s 68 Assists (2.6)
Baylor Behrens, Dorchester 50 Assists (2.6)
Jentry Lechtenberg, Falls City Sacred Heart 65 Assists (2.5)
Gabrielle Theis, Dorchester 56 Assists (2.4)
Erin Gegg, Shelton 61 Assists (2.3)
Kali Jarosz, Archangels Catholic 61 Assists (2.3)
Gracie Willis, Shelton 60 Assists (2.3)
Dorothy Crouse, Falls City Sacred Heart 60 Assists (2.2)
Avery Santo, Falls City Sacred Heart 56 Assists (2.1)
Makenna Karr, Silver Lake 52 Assists (2.1)
Jayda Krings, Archangels Catholic 53 Assists (2.0)
Lily Thornton, Anselmo-Merna 49 Assists (2.0)
Katelyn Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 53 Assists (2.0)
Class D2 Girls Steal Leaders
Ellie Morgan, Shelton 117 Steals (4.5)
Annabelle Barlow, St. Mary’s 101 Steals (3.9)
Pyper Ickes, St. Mary’s 95 Steals (3.7)
Makenna Miller, Anselmo-Merna 85 Steals (3.5)
Sophie Schmidt, Silver Lake 82 Steals (3.3)
Madison Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 85 Steals (3.3)
Jentry Lechtenberg, Falls City Sacred Heart 83 Steals (3.2)
Cara Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 80 Steals (3.1)
Jayda Krings, Archangels Catholic 79 Steals (3.0)
Nyla Kessler, Archangels Catholic 76 Steals (2.9)
Gracie Williamson, St. Mary’s 72 Steals (2.8)
Rhianen Myers, Anselmo-Merna 64 Steals (2.7)
Kali Jarosz, Archangels Catholic 69 Steals (2.6)
Katy Soucek, Silver Lake 61 Steals (2.4)
Gabrielle Theis, Dorchester 55 Steals (2.4)
Baylor Behrens, Dorchester 46 Steals (2.4)
Bailey Theis, Dorchester 54 Steals (2.3)
Emma Schmidt, Silver Lake 55 Steals (2.2)
Daycee Witt, Falls City Sacred Heart 58 Steals (2.1)
Avery Santo, Falls City Sacred Heart 54 Steals (2.0)
Adyson Peterson, St. Mary’s 52 Steals (2.0)
Anna Stricklin, Archangels Catholic 51 Steals (2.0)
Class D2 Girls Block Leaders
Madison Bunger, Wilcox-Hildreth 69 Blocks (2.7)
Jentry Lechtenberg, Falls City Sacred Heart 44 Blocks (1.7)
Emerson Mlnarik, St. Mary’s 38 Blocks (1.5)
Rhianen Myers, Anselmo-Merna 35 Blocks (1.5)
Makenna Miller, Anselmo-Merna 31 Blocks (1.3)
Erin Gegg, Shelton 25 Blocks (1.0)
Daycee Witt, Falls City Sacred Heart 18 Blocks (0.7)
Gracey McIntyre, Anselmo-Merna 15 Blocks (0.7)
Bailey Theis, Dorchester 15 Blocks (0.7)
Avery Santo, Falls City Sacred Heart 17 Blocks (0.6)
Isabel Preister, Archangels Catholic 13 Blocks (0.5)