The North Bend Central Girls Basketball Team won the C-1 State Championship over the weekend, defeating West Point-Beemer 48-33 in the first round at the Devaney Center on Thursday before downing Adams Central 39-31 in the Semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena Friday morning, and then dominating Lincoln Christian on the boards and winning 48-32 in Saturday's State Championship game at PBA. All three NBC State Tournament games were broadcast on 107.9 the Bull.
Against the Cadets, the Tigers got up 13-6 at the end of one, and won the 2nd quarter 7-5 to take a 20-11 lead into the locker room.
NBC outscored the Cadets 19-9 in the 3rd quarter, and led 39-20 at the end of three.
West Point-Beemer won the 4th quarter 13-9.
Kaitlyn Emanuel led the way with 12 points while Sydney Emanuel notched 10.
The Tigers led the Patriots 11-6 at the end of one and won the 2nd quarter 12-10 to take a 23-16 lead into the locker room.
Adams Central won the 3rd quarter 9-5 to make it a 28-25 game at the end of three.
NBC outscored the Patriots 11-6 in the 4th quarter.
Sydney Emanuel had a game-high 13 points while Kaitlyn Emanuel posted 8. Lauren Emanuel and Megan Ortmeier totaled 7 points apiece.
The old adage that defense wins championship was certainly true for the North Bend Central Tigers on Saturday.
The Tigers held the Crusaders to just 36.1 percent shooting, including forcing them to go 2-15 from three point range. NBC also out-rebounded Lincoln Christian 38-21, including 19 offensive rebounds.
North Bend Central closed the first quarter on a small scoring run, leading 13-7.
The Tigers then added 15 points in the second quarter, and took a 28-17 lead into halftime.
Another strong period saw the Tigers outscore the Crusaders in the third, 14-9, allowing NBC to slow down pace of play and run clock in the fourth.
Both teams scored just six points in the fourth quarter, but that was all NBC would need, preserving the victory.
Sydney Emanuel scored 12 points to lead NBC, including a 6-7 performance at the free throw line. Lauren Emanuel and Kaitlyn Emanuel each had 8 points for the Tigers.
Head Coach Aaron Sterup says the team really stressed rebounding. "We had a couple of goals, and one of them was to keep them off the glass. We thought if we could hold them to one shot, make it a tough shot, and hold them to one shot each time that we'd have a good shot."
Sterup says his team really controlled things on the glass, especially in the 1st half.
He adds the team had to be aggressive on offense, and attack the Crusaders' zone.
Sterup says having multiple scorers also helped his team win. "Our biggest strength is our balance. Unlike a lot of teams you can't guard one or two of our girls and be very successful because we've got other people that can score."
The Tigers also dominated the stat categories of second chance points, bench points, fast break points and points in the paint.
This is the third overall state championship for North Bend Central, with their previous two titles coming in Class C1 in 1999 and 2001.
The Tigers finish their 2019/2020 campaign at 27-2, and as the champions of Class C1.
Congratulations North Bend Central, what an absolutely amazing accomplishment!!!!
Of course this State Championship would have never happened had the Tigers not erased a 5-point deficit with 10 seconds left against Norfolk Catholic in Sub-State.
Sterup says his team made the most of their opportunity. "We came into this knowing that we were very fortunate. We were a whisper away from not being here. And so we told them you kind of gotten a gift here, it's really your job to go down there and do something with it."
Sterup says the girls being relentless for 3 days was a big reason why the Tigers were as successful as they were this past weekend.
He adds the team played a lot more loose at state compared to other postseason games where it was one and done where his team played tight and tentative.
Either way NBC has another State Championship under their belt and Coach Sterup has his first State Championship as Head Coach of the Tigers.
This has to be an absolutely awesome and surreal feeling for NBC, who is no doubt ecstatic about what they accomplished.
Ortmeier, Lauren Emanuel, and Abby Post are the three seniors from this team lost to graduation.
What a very fitting way for them to end their High School Careers.
Plenty of talent returns for North Bend Central next year though, including Hannah Williams, Ally Pojar, Cierra Kluthe, Sydney Emanuel, and Kaitlyn Emanuel.
I think the Tigers have a great chance to be back at State next year with an opportunity to defend their State Title.
North Bend Central brings back a lot of great players next year, and should be strong once again next season.
The Tigers have to work hard once again in the offseason, and try and go for another State Championship next year.
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