TRIBUNE GREELEY COUNTY 56, HANOVER 55 (1ST) — Greeley's County freshman Lincoln Shafer lived every kid's dream with the game-winning 3-pointer to shock defending state champion Hanover 56-55. Jariath Yanez flipped a pass for a corner 3-pointer that Shafer drilled as the Jackrabbits' crowd went wild.
"I thought let's go for it — 100 percent," Shafer said. "To see it go through the net was an amazing sight. It was an amazing feeling."
Tribune High School captured the 1968 Class B state title and the 2011 1A Division 2 state championship; The Jackrabbits placed as state runner-up in 2002.
Greeley County's Jaxson Brandl scored 31 points. Hanover's Joshua Zarybnicky scored 15 points. The Wildcats cost themselves with 6 of 17 free throw shooting. Seven-time state champion Hanover captured basketball titles in 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2021.
NORTHERN VALLEY 84, BUCKLIN 79 (3RD, OT) — Northern Valley rallied from a 5-point deficit on regulation for an 84-79 overtime victory over Bucklin for third place in 1A Division 2. Bailey Sides scored 21 points with 10 rebounds as six Huskies scored in double figures. Bucklin's Scott Price scored 33 points, including 12 of 16 free throws.
GREELEY COUNTY 59, NORTHERN VALLEY 54 (SEMIFINAL) — The Tribune-Greeley County Jackrabbits outscored Almena Northern Valley 59-54 in the semifinals. Jaxon Brandl came up huge with 21 points, six assists and seven rebounds. The Jackrabbits converted 10 of 29 3-pointers to outscore Northern Valley 30-12 from long range. Northern Valley's John Brands scored 22 points.
Northern Valley won state basketball titles in 1986, 1990, 1991 and 2018.
HANOVER 61, BUCKLIN 54 (SEMIFINAL) – Defending Division 2 state champion Hanover built an 18-point lead and held off Bucklin’s rally for a hard-fought semifinal victory. Philip Doebele scored 23 points with 13 rebounds and Emmitt Jueneman scored 16 points with seven assists.
Bucklin last qualified for the state tourney in 1994.
Bucklin converted 10 of 25 3-pointers. Andrew Bowman and Scott Price each scored 18 points.
Bucklin 20 17 16 22 4 — 79
No. Valley 15 26 17 17 9 — 84
BUCKLIN (18-7)—Scott Price 9-23 12-16 33; Lindsay 4-10 5-6 13, Nathan Bowman 3-14 4-8 10, Stimpert 3-4 2-2 10, Andrew Bowman 1-4 1-2 3, Stein 1-2 1-2 3, Cook 1-6 2-2 5, Kirk 1-3 0-0 2, Totals 23-66 27-38 79.
NORTHERN VALLEY (22-3)—Schemper 6-9 1-2 13, Brands 3-9 4-7 10, Sides 7-16 6-6 21, Loya 3-7 2-5 10, Thalheim 4-6 2-2 12, Hansen 4-11 2-2 10, Preston 3-4 2-7 8, Totals 30-62 19-31 84.
3-pointers—B 6-28 (Price 3-11, Stimpert 2-2, Cook 1-5, A. Bowman 0-1, Kirk 0-2, N. Bowman 0-7); NV 5-18 (Thalheim 2-4, Loya 2-5, Sides 1-4, Hansen 0-4, Preston 0-1). Rebounds—B 38 (Price 7); NV 52 (Schemper 13). Assists—B 15 (N. Bowman 10); NV 18 (Sides 11). Steals—B 12 (Price 7); NV 6 (Loya 4).
Greeley County 15 18 11 12 — 56
Hanover 19 14 10 12 — 55
GREELEY COUNTY (23-2)—Brandl 14-21 0-1 31, Shafer 4-13 0-0 12, Mangan 1-4 0-0 3, Sherer 1-3 0-0 2, Martinez 0-2 0-0 0, Villalobos 1-3 0-0 2, Yanez 2-4 0-0 4, Schneider 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 24-52 0-1 56.
HANOVER (23-2)—Zarybnicky 7-12 0-0 15, Dimler 5-14 1-3 13, Doebele 4-6 2-4 11, Emmitt Jueneman 3-6 3-8 9, Stallbaumer 0-1 0-0 0, Chase Bruna 2-3 0-2 5, Totals 22-43 6-17 55.
3-pointers—GC 8-22 (Shafer 4-11, Brandl 3-4, Mangan 1-3, Sherer 0-2, Yanez 0-2); H 5-19 (Dimler 2-7, Doebele 1-2, Bruna 1-2, Zarybnicky 1-4, Stallbaumer 0-1, E. Jueneman 0-3). Rebounds—GC 22 (Brandl 8); H 30 (Zarybnicky 12). Assists—GC 13 (Mangan 5, Brandl 5); H 6 (E. Jueneman 3). Steals—GC 8 (Brandl 5); H 7 (Bruna 2, E. Jueneman 2).
Greeley County 17 10 11 21 — 59
No. Valley 13 11 14 16 — 54
GREELEY COUNTY (22-2)—Brandl 5-12 9-10 21, Shafer 5-11 0-0 14, Mangan 1-3 0-0 2, Sherer 4-12 4-7 14, Martinez 1-3 0-0 2, Villalobos 2-3 0-1 5, Yanez 0-9 0-0 0, Totals 18-53 13-18 59.
NORTHERN VALLEY (21-3)—Brands 7-13 7-10 22, Sides 3-12 5-6 12, Loya 2-4 0-0 6, Thalheim 2-12 3-4 7, Hansen 2-10 1-2 5, Schemper 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 17-53 16-22 54.
3-pointers—GC 10-29 (Shafer 4-10, Brandl 2-4, Sherer 2-6, Mangan 1-3, Villalobos 1-1, Martinez 0-1, Yanez 0-4); NV 4-18 (Loya 2-3, Sides 1-4, Brands 1-4, Thalheim 0-4, Hansen 0-3). Rebounds—GC 37 (Brandl 7, Sherer 7, Shafer 7); NV 37 (Thalheim 9). Assists—GC 11 (Brandl 6); NV 7 (Sides 3). Steals—GC 9 (Sherer 5); NV 8 (Brands 3).
Bucklin 8 8 17 21 — 54
Hanover 21 10 12 18 — 61
BUCKLIN (18-6)—Andrew Bowman 8-14 0-0 18, Scott Price 7-15 0-3 18, Nathan Bowman 2-15 0-1 5, Lindsay 1-2 0-0 2, Stein 0-3 0-0 0, Cook 2-2 0-0 6, Kirk 2-2 0-0 5, Totals 22-53 0-4 54.
HANOVER (23-1)—Doebele 10-16 2-2 23, Emmitt Jueneman 6-10 4-6 16, Dimler 4-12 2-5 11, Zarybnicky 2-16 3-5 7, Stallbaumer 1-3 0-0 2, Chase Bruna 1-4 0-0 2, Totals 24-61 11-19 61
3-pointers—B 10-25 (Price 4-8, Cook 2-2, A. Bowman 2-4, Kirk 1-1, N. Bowman 1-10), H 2-18 (Doebele 1-3, Dimler 1-7, Stallbaumer 0-1, E. Jueneman 0-2, C. Bruna 0-2, Zarybnicky 0-3). Rebounds—B 34 (Price 7); H 38 (Doebele 13). Assists—B 15 (N. Bowman 6); H 15 (E. Jueneman 7). Steals—B 8 (Stein 2); H 15 (E. Jueneman 5).
