Coach Feek's legacy honored in storybook fashion as Pokorski beats buzzer

Their toughness and resilience was a hallmark of Brad Feeken, 21-year head coach at Gretna, who died after a two-year battle with neuroendocrine cancer early Saturday morning. 

On the same day that coach Feek lost his battle with cancer, senior guard Landon Pokorski delivered a game-winning layup with less than 3 seconds left in a 49-47 win.

“That's who (Feeken) is. By what they did tonight is who he is,” assistant coach Bill Heard said. “That's a direct reflection of how they've been raised since they were in seventh and eighth grade with him, too. They could not have honored him better. And again, it had nothing to do with that last shot. Just the way that they competed together was special.”

Early on the Dragons dialed up the defense, holding Papillion-La Vista South to just 19 first half points.

Four different scorers had six points in the first half for Gretna, as they limited All-State forward Bryson Bahl, who holds a Division I offer from Bryant, to just one made three in the opening 16 minutes.

But Gretna went cold in the second half, and a 10-0 run by Papio South put the Titans ahead 40-39 with 6:15 left in the game. Alec Wilkins, who was the first-half leading scorer with 9 points, was held scoreless for the remainder of the game.

The Dragons continued to battle, as Kade Cook took over with 7 points on a pair of and-1 conversions. An Alex Wilcoxson layup (10 points) tied the game at 47 with 28.9 seconds left.

Papio South was called for a player control foul on offense, giving Gretna the ball with less than 10 seconds left.

Pokorski drove the ball down the right wing to the baseline, where he put up a floater that beat the buzzer.

“Landon is a really good player, and he made a really good play,” Heard said. “And coaches practice that situation with him 100 times. And so tonight what you see is the accumulation of a lot of reps with coach and him in the gym when no one's around, we just trust him, that’s it.”

Throughout the game, when things got tough, the Dragons battled and displayed “unbelievable” resilience.

“They won’t quit,” Heard said. “I told them before the game, and I said it after, I'm just proud of them for playing. They showed up, and they played with joy, they played with happiness. I mean, it's really hard to be happy right now, and they chose to do that. Just so dang proud of them.”

Heard added that the support shown by the Gretna community and opponents alike – Papio South and Creighton Prep in their game against Omaha Westside following – has been humbling, both during and after Feek’s battle.

“Basketball community is very tight,” he said. “A lot of good people in this thing that are about kids and about the right things. It's been unbelievable, and it's not just been tonight, it's been ongoing for a long time. It's humbling, it's very humbling.”

Heard has “no earthly idea” how they will move forward, but knows they will care for the kids first and basketball second.

“They're going to want to be focused on hoops, and we'll get there, but we're going to take it a day at a time,” he said. “We're gonna worry about being together, taking care of each other, those pieces that are more important than the game right now.”

Gretna (8-1) advances to the Metro semifinals on Tuesday, Jan. 2 against Omaha Central at 5:15 p.m. Papio South (8-1) is no longer undefeated.

Gretna (8-1) 12 22 5 10 -- 49

P-LV South (8-1) 10 9 16 12 -- 47