The Oakland-Craig Girls Basketball Team took 4th at State over the weekend, knocking off Clarkson/Leigh 41-36 in the first round at Lincoln North Star Thursday afternoon in action aired on 107.9 the Bull before getting upset 53-44 by Ponca in the State Semifinals Friday night at the Devaney Center in action also aired on the Bull, and then losing 58-40 to Crofton in the 3rd place game at Lincoln East on Saturday.
The Knights jumped out to an 11-7 lead on the Patriots after one, and won the 2nd quarter 9-8 to take a 20-15 lead into the locker room.
Oakland-Craig outscored the Patriots 13-7 in the 3rd quarter to extend their lead to 33-22 at the end of three.
Clarkson/Leigh outscored the Knights 14-8 in the 4th quarter.
Kennedy Benne had 18 points and 7 rebounds while Sadie Nelson added 12 points, and Chaney Nelson notched 8.
The Indians got out to an 11-8 lead at the end of one on Oakland-Craig. The Knights outscored Ponca 17-12 in the 2nd quarter to take a 25-23 lead into the locker room.
The Indians won the 3rd quarter 12-7 to regain the lead at 35-32 at the end of three.
Ponca outscored Oakland-Craig 18-12 in the 4th quarter.
Benne led the way with 20 points while Makenna Peason scored 9.
The Warriors jumped out to a 20-8 lead at the end of one, and outscored the Knights 15-9 in the 2nd quarter to take a 35-17 lead into the locker room.
Oakland-Craig won the 3rd quarter 11-9 to make it a 44-28 game at the end of three.
Crofton won the 4th quarter 14-12.
Benne had 9 points while Sydney Guzinski notched 8. Chaney Nelson and Jeannina Blahak added 7 each.
Tough loss in the Semifinals on Friday to the Indians.
The Knights wrap up their spectacular year at 26-3.
It wasn't the storybook ending to the season that Oakland-Craig was looking for.
The Knights came up one win short of reaching the State Championship and having a chance to win State.
I will be honest I thought it would be Oakland-Craig vs. Crofton for the State Championship, not the other way around.
Just goes to show anything can happen when a particular team or teams are on at State.
State is a whole different ball game once teams get there, and honestly anyone can be beat in any given round.
So while I'm sure the Knights are disappointed they didn't make it to Championship Saturday, they still had a tremendous season nonetheless.
Benne led the team in scoring with 592 points on the season and 171 rebounds.
Benne and Mya Guzinski are the only two players lost to graduation.
Lots returns for Oakland-Craig next year, including Chaney Nelson, Sydney Guzinski, Edie Anderson, Sadie Nelson, Pearson, and Blahak.
So the Knights should have a lot of promise and another opportunity to qualify for State once again next season.
Benne is a huge loss though as she heads off to Briar Cliff.
I think losing her will be a similar type loss Oakland-Craig felt last year when Dacey Nelson graduated.
That's two absolutely incredible players gone from your program in consecutive years.
The good news though is there is a lot of talent returning next year.
The Knights can definitely be a State qualifying team and force to be reckoned with next season, in my opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment