Oakland-Craig met Hartington Cedar Catholic in the C2-4 girls sub-state basketball championship in South Sioux City heard on 107.9 The Bull Friday night.
The game was tied 7-7 early, before the Knights pulled away for a 15-9 lead after the first quarter.
Both teams scored 10 points in the second quarter, and Oakland-Craig led 25-19 at the half.
Dacey Nelson, who did not play the entire second period due to foul trouble, re-entered the game in the third, and scored 11 points, including a trio of three pointers, as the Knights scored 19 as a team and took a 44-33 lead into the fourth.
The Trojans outscored the Knights in the fourth, but Oakland-Craig was able to make free throws down the stretch, and the final score favored the Knights 57-49, sending them to the state tournament for just the second time in school history.
Kennedy Benne scored 27 points to lead Oakland-Craig, while Nelson ended up with 19.
Head Coach Joe Anderson. "The game just didn't have a lot of flow. A lot of fouls both ways. And it was called pretty tight and we had to adjust to that. But part of the problem was Dacey I think she played maybe two minutes the whole first half. And I felt really good at halftime, we're up 6 and she hadn't hardly played. So credit the other girls for really stepping up on the defensive end and slowing them down."
Anderson adds the Trojans made things difficult on his team. "Cedar's got a lot of great athletes, they're state volleyball runners up this year, and they got a lot of length, and make it hard to move the ball around. So once we started using a few more ball fakes and attacking the glass a little bit more we did a better job."
The Knights (21-3) battle Ponca (23-3) in the first round of State at Lincoln Southwest Thursday afternoon.
The Indians won 62-37 over Elm Creek in the C2-5 Sub-State Final from Seward Friday night.
Anderson says Ponca is a very tough team. "They're just a very well coached team. Coach Hayes has done a great job with them, he does every year. They are just a group that plays extremely hard. You turn on the film and are just really impressed. They're very aggressive. They play an aggressive style of defense that really tries to get you out of rhythm. They're very athletic, they rebound very well. And they're just really sound. They really like to go to the basket on offense, and just create a lot of mismatch problems because they have some girls that can kind of play inside, outside, and just given you a lot of headaches on both sides."
Of course these two teams met two years ago in a District Final with Ponca drilling a late 3 to eventually win the game.
You can bet that will be on the minds of these Oakland-Craig players as they take to the court Thursday afternoon.
This should be a close game and a heck of a battle, but I think the Knights will win.
I just feel playing a tougher schedule and having players like Nelson and Benne gives Oakland-Craig the advantage.
It should still be a very close, tight, and intense ball game though.
I fully expect things to be very physical.
Nelson and Benne need to go off for the Knights.
This is Oakland-Craig's chance to do something big in the State Tournament, and the Knights have to go out there and make things happen.
Anything can happen at State, and Oakland-Craig can't sell themselves short of believing they can win the whole thing.
Upsets and other things happen all the time, but the thing the Knights have to do is control what they can control and play their game.
Oakland-Craig can't worry about what happens in other games, the Knights just have to be focused on themselves.
Oakland-Craig is the first game in C-2 so won't have to react to any potential upset or upsets beforehand.
It's win or go home for the Knights on Thursday.
Win Thursday and you are guaranteed 3 games over the weekend. Lose and you are done.
Game time is set for 2:00 p.m., and the game can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.
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