For the Howells-Dodge and Bruning-Davenport/Shickley girls basketball teams, a second chance awaits Thursday. The result of grinding through a rigorous basketball schedule the past three months.
The Jaguars (seeded fifth) and BDS (seeded sixth) both earned spots in the Class D-1 State Tournament as wild cards, having the highest remaining power point totals after the six district champions were crowned last Friday.
After both teams lost close sub-district finals on February 18th, they took a positive approach to the break. BDS lost 59-58 in overtime to top-seed Friend, while H-D lost a 43-38 decision to Fullerton. Those four schools join Dundy County-Stratton in a D-1 field with five Striv schools.
“We practiced like we would be in the state tournament,” BDS coach Shana Gerberding said. “But, you always have to sweat through that Friday night. It was stressful.”
Howells-Dodge coach Scott Polacek has experience with the wild card that he hopes the Jaguars can use to their advantage. Prior to consultation with Dodge, Howells was a wild card to state in 2010 and 2011, winning the D-1 title the second time around.
“We have had it go both ways,” Polacek said. “In 2010, we lost a rematch and in 2011 we won the whole thing. What is nice for us is we did a little fundamental work, but we were looking at the math and could also figure out who we probably were going to play.
“The bad thing is, you aren’t out there on Friday night cutting down a net.”
The opponent for the Jaguars – while far away on the Nebraska map – is a familiar one. H-D will face DCS who knocked them out in the semifinals a season ago.
It’s not lost on Polacek on the quality of their opponent Thursday. He says up to six teams could win the Class D-1 field this year.
“It’s a shame we are playing this game on Thursday,” Polacek said. “D-1 has a bunch of teams that could win it, we think two of them are playing in this game.
“DCS is so good all the way around. Aubrey Frederick is good inside and Nicole Kent can beat you inside or outside. And they have good pieces around them, too. It’s a tough matchup.”
The Tigers may have a slight experience edge, with three seniors in their starting lineup. Howells-Dodge will counter with just senior Kelly Cech. Junior Sam Brester is a returning all-stater averaging 16.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest.
“Kelly has been our leader all season,” Polacek said. “She is our leader and she compliments what Sam can do in the post.
“We ask Sam to do a lot,” the coach added. “We ask her to take some tough shots and even if she has a down night, she’ll still score points. She’s a good rebounder and probably doesn’t get enough credit for being a good defender.”
BDS will open the D-1 tournament at 9:00 against third-seeded Fullerton, who is making their second straight trip to Lincoln after qualifying as a wild card last year.
For Gerberding, her toughest decision of the week may have been figuring out where to sleep on Wednesday night. Her own pillow won out.
“We went back and forth on that to be honest,” the coach said, of a possible early trip to Lincoln. “In the end, we wanted them to sleep in their own bed.”
Seniors Catherine Mick and McKenna Schardt (above) lead a balanced attack for BDS who has no starter averaging double figures. Mick averages 8.3 points and Schardt is at seven points per contest.
“McKenna is kind of the heart and soul of what we do. She is like a coach on the floor,” Gerberding said. “And Catherine is such a good athlete. Sometimes she is scoring a bunch and you don’t even know it and she’ll always get the opponent’s best player on defense.”
Three sophomores – Lexi Cadel, Megan Grote and Carly Elznic – round out the starting five for BDS, at state for the first time as a co-op. Cadel is the leading scorer at 9.3 points per game.
“Sometimes you forget they are sophomores,” the coach said. “They play beyond their years.”
They’ll need to in the opening round for BDS to have success against a 24-1 Fullerton team that has not lost to any Class D school this year.
“It’s a tough matchup,” Gerberding said. “You get 24-1 for a reason. Fullerton is really good, with a 6-3 post who can run the floor and really good guard play.”
The coach has been happy with how her team — 19-6 on the season — has bounced back from a 4-5 stretch in mid-January. The Eagles bounced back to win eight games in a row, including the CRC championship, before the loss to Friend.
“I think we played pretty well to start the season,” Gerberding said. “We had some tough games in there and a few we didn’t get our best effort, but I think we bounced back well and it shows the girls have a short memory.”
