The Winnebago Boys Basketball Team finished State Runner-up at the State Basketball Tournament this past weekend.
The second seeded Winnebago Indians faced off against the #7 Syracuse Rockets in the first round at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Thursday, March 8th, in action heard on 107.9 The Bull.
Syracuse got out to a quick lead early, but Winnebago was able to win the first quarter 12-11, and took a 27-24 lead into halftime.
A big offensive third quarter saw the Indians score 17 points and lead 44-33 at the end of three.
The Rockets won the fourth quarter 17-15, but Winnebago claimed the victory, 59-50.
D’Von LaPointe led the Indians with 17, while Maurice Scott added 16.
Winnebago met Broken Bow in the Class C-1 boys state semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday in a game also heard on 107.9 The Bull.
Winnebago made seven three-pointers in the first half, shooting themselves to a 35-28 lead at halftime.
Broken Bow made a couple of comeback attempts in the second half, but Winnebago was able to close out strong, winning the game 69-55.
Winnebago was led by stellar performances from Manape Cleveland, who scored 27 points, including five three-pointers, and LaPointe, who scored 25 points. Scott added 10.
The Indians came up short in Saturday morning's State Championship Game, losing 70-66 in overtime to Wahoo in action also heard on 107.9 the Bull.
The Indians led the Warriors 15-14 at the end of one, and won the 2nd quarter 13-11 to take a 28-25 lead into the locker room.
Both teams scored 17 points in the 3rd quarter, and the score at the end of 3 was 45-42 in favor of Winnebago.
Wahoo won the 4th quarter 17-14 to tie the game at 59 and send it into overtime.
The Warriors outlasted the Indians 11-7 in the 4th quarter.
Tough way for Winnebago to lose, especially in a state championship game, but the Indians gave it their all and did everything in their power to win, in my opinion.
Winnebago ends their great season with a 22-7 record.
The season started off with a bang for the Indians as Winnebago knocked off the likes of Walthill, Omaha Nation, Oakland-Craig, Battle Creek, and Wisner-Pilger before the new year, and then picked up big wins over eventual C-2 State Champion Ponca, Dakota Valley, SD, Wynot, Carroll, IA, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Creighton, Osmond, and Wakefield in the second half of the season prior to state.
The state wins over Syracuse and Broken Bow were pretty impressive in my book, and it was definitely another season to remember for Winnebago Boys Basketball.
The Indians say goodbye to a host of seniors, including LaPointe, Scott, Cleveland, Makoonce Littlevoice, Lance Denney, Caden Cleveland, and Bear Kennedy.
Winnebago loses some great players, but you can figure on the Indians putting an excellent product on the floor next year as Winnebago simply reloads instead of rebuilds.
Key returners for the Indians next season include Ed Payer, Jeriah Greyowl, and Willy Wingett.
Some great players are leaving the program this year...players that were in high school for all 4 of Winnebago's State Tournament runs.
This year's senior class couldn't really ask for anything more from that standpoint.
The Indians could be young next year, but you can bet Winnebago will be talented.
Winnebago will have a new crop of talent to work with next year, and it will be interesting to see what the makeup of next year's team is like.
Some great players have come and gone through this program, and future Winnebago teams have a lot to live up to, there's no doubt about that.
You could say this has been one of the most successful if not the most successful time period the Indians have had in school history.
Lots of hard work, determination, and dedication will be needed this offseason to keep the tradition going.
New players must emerge and make their mark on this program.
Winnebago has to come together over the offseason, and be ready to go at the start of next season.
It will be interesting to see who all the Indians feature on their team next year.
I guess we'll find out in November who all the incoming crop of talent is for Winnebago.
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