BOYS BASKETBALL: Northeast Falls To Creighton Prep In Three OT Thriller For A6 Title
OMAHA–(KFOR Mar. 2)–After two scoreless overtime periods, Creighton Prep broke the ice seconds into the third overtime against Lincoln Northeast on Tuesday night.
The Junior Jays would then go on a 16-4 run in the third overtime to beat the Rockets 57-45 to win the Boys A6 District Basketball championship at the Heider Center, in a game heard on KFOR.
Prep (17-7) will now move on to the Class A boys basketball tournament and will face Omaha Westside in Tuesday’s 7:45pm quarterfinal at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Northeast finishes their season with an 18-7 record.
After being tied at 41 at the end of regulation and the first two overtimes, which saw both teams try to use stall tactics to play for game-winning shots, Casey O’Malley scored on a layup to spark the Junior Jays with 3:41 left in the third overtime. Prep then connected on 12 of 14 free throws, which also saw Omaha recruit Luke Jungers sink eight tosses, as part of the run to seal the win. Jungers led all scorers with 20 points.
After Porter Bazil sank a three-pointer just across mid-court to end the first quarter and pull Northeast to within three, 13-10, the Rockets then outscored the Junior Jays 17-8 in the second quarter behind senior forward Carlos Valdez’ seven points. Northeast led Prep 27-21 at halftime and Valdez wound up finishing with 11 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets extended their lead to 32-21 early in the third quarter, the latter basket coming off a three-pointer from senior guard Zander Beard, who led Northeast with 13 points. The Junior Jays then marched on a 13-0 run into the fourth quarter, where Prep took control at 34-32 with 6:30 left in the game off a basket from Markel Evans, who had 11 points.
Northeast finishes the season with an LPS title and the Heartland Athletic Conference tournament championship. The Rockets have not qualified for state since 2016, but have finished district runner-up in three of the past four seasons.
Click the links below to hear the podcast of the game.
Lincoln Northeast at Omaha Creighton Prep boys basketball 1st Half
Lincoln Northeast at Omaha Creighton Prep boys basketball 2nd Half