Right now, Wilber-Clatonia is celebrating its first Southern Nebraska Conference tournament championship in 35 years.

The Wolverines' work for getting back to the state tournament, however, is far from done.

Start with their final four games, all against teams at .500 or better. Then comes a subdistrict with four of the five teams in the top 20 in the Class C-1 point standings, topped by two-time defending Class C-1 state champion Hastings St. Cecilia.

“With St. Cecilia coming our direction for subdistricts, we've known we've had to win as many games as we can,'' 14-year Wolverine coach Tim Barada said. “We've had some lucky bounces to be 15-2, but we've been able to defend people.''

Only one team, Lincoln Christian, has scored in the 50s against his team. The Crusaders won 59-51 on Jan. 12. Two weeks later, in the Wolverines' other loss, Johnson County won 40-38.

In the conference tournament, the Wolverines gave up 48 to Sutton and 36 to Centennial before rallying in the finals to defeat Milford 36-33.

“If you hold someone to 33, you'd like to think you have a pretty good shot of winning,'' Barada said.

Milford (13-4) led 30-22 after three quarters while playing a triangle-and-two defense, trying to atone for a 15-point loss to Wilber-Clatonia last month.

“Our kids were hesitant for a while against that defense, but once we got to the fourth quarter, we shot with more confidence and got the lead,'' the coach said. “Once we did, we decided to be pretty patient and made our free throws down the stretch.''

Wilber-Clatonia has been a consistent force in the conference, making it to the tournament finals for the fourth time in the past six or seven years, but had lost, in order, to Sutton, Fillmore Central and David City.

The Wolverines returned four starters, including guards who were their top three scorers, from last year's team that went 18-6 with a first-round loss to Axtell in the C-2 state tournament. Mason Needles is averaging 14.5 points, with Sam Newmyer and Andrew Pryor at 11 apiece. Andrew Jeffries, a 6-foot-7 senior post player, was the fourth returner.

They enter the C-1 ratings in ninth, one spot behind Lincoln Christian and one ahead of newcomer Kearney Catholic (12-6). The Stars are ranked for the first time this season.

Wilber-Clatonia's inclusion also benefitted Johnson County (16-3), which enters the C-2 ratings in 10th after winning the East Central Nebraska Conference tournament.

Trifecta: Class B No. 7 Adams Central tonight, Class C-1 No. 3 Grand Island Central Catholic on Friday, Class B No. 1 Omaha Skutt on Saturday. That's the week ahead for Hastings St. Cecilia. Those three opponents are a combined 48-6, with Adams Central and Central Catholic one-loss teams.

A year ago, the Bluehawks were lined up for a similar week, playing Ralston in the Heartland Hoops Classic instead of Skutt, but lost the Central Catholic game because of weather. They went 2-0, beating Adams Central by 13 and Ralston by 1.

Strong field: Five of the seven games in Saturday's Heartland Classic at Grand Island's Fonner Park are ratings matchups between teams in different classes: Adams Central-Kearney Catholic at 1, C-2 No. 3 Axtell-D-2 No. 1 Ewing at 2:45, Class B No. 10 Gretna-GICC at 4:30, Class B No. 5 Ralston-C-1 No. 1 Chadron at 6:15 and St. Cecila-Skutt at 8.

Class C-2 No. 1 Ravenna plays Weeping Water at 11:15 a.m., after D-2 No. 5 Sumner-Eddyville-Miller opens the day by playing Wood River at 9:30 a.m. at the Heartland Event Center.

Top games this week:

Class C-1: Tonight: Bennington at Plattsmouth, Norfolk Catholic at Crofton, Hastings SC at Adams Central. Thursday: Humboldt-TRS at Falls City. Friday: Hastings SC at Grand Island CC, David City at Wilber-Clatonia. Saturday: Adams Central at Kearney Catholic, Norris at Lincoln Christian, Norfolk Catholic at Pierce.

Class C-2: Tonight: St. Paul at Ravenna, Dundy County-Stratton at Holyoke (Colo.). Thursday: Ravenna at Adams Central, West Point CC at Pierce. Friday: Wahoo Neumann at Fremont Bergan, Burwell at Grand Island Heartland Lutheran

Class D-1: Tonight: Howells at Bancroft-Rosalie. Thursday: Kearney Catholic at Loup City. Friday: Sumner-EM at Overton, Sandhills/Thedford at Cody-Kilgore.

Class D-2: Thursday: Arthur County at Sandhills/Thedford. Friday: Bancroft-Rosalie at Newcastle.

Heartland Hoops Classic lineup: Saturday at Grand Island: Sumner-Eddyville-Miller vs. Wood River, 9:30 a.m.; Weeping Water vs. Ravenna, 11:15; Adams Central vs. Kearney Catholic, 1; Axtell vs. Ewing, 2:45; Gretna vs. Grand Island Central Catholic, 4:30; Ralston vs. Chadron, 6:15; Hastings St. Cecilia vs. Omaha Skutt, 8.

Contact the writer:

444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

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