Elkhorn Valley to C2 title game with 47-42 win over GACC
- izzylewismedia8
- Mar 7, 2025
- 3 min read
In an electric back-and-forth game, the No. 4 Elkhorn Valley Falcons continued their undefeated season in the semifinal round of the NSAA Class C2 State Girls Basketball Tournament.
The Falcons took down the No. 8 Guardian Angels Central Catholic Bluejays 47-42 at the Bob Devaney Sport Center Friday afternoon. Elkhorn Valley will now move on to the championship game Saturday.
“We weathered so many storms this year for games already, so we knew this would be no different,” Elkhorn Valley senior guard Karlee Broberg said. “We were confident that we would come out on top.”
The Bluejays upset No. 1 Johnson-Brock on Thursday to make it this far in the tournament and the Falcons beat No. 5 Cross Country on Thursday to advance.
The first quarter got off to a slow start. The first basket was made over a minute into the game by Guardian Angels Central Catholic senior guard Israeia Kreikemeier. The Bluejays secured a seven point lead in the first, with a score of 8-1.
The Falcons started to wake up at the end of the first quarter, gaining their only two baskets of the first with just over one minute left. These hoops off of turnovers nearly closed the gap between the teams. The first quarter ended with a score of 8-7, Guardian Angels Central Catholic up.
“I know our strength is our offense,” Broberg said. “I knew that hitting shots was what we needed to get us going. I felt the confidence go up a lot after that.”
The Falcons maintained their momentum, shifting the tide dramatically during the second quarter. They started the second with an energetic 10-0 run. The first half ended with Elkhorn Valley in the lead, 27-13. The Falcons needed to keep their energy up since they still had another half left.
“We actually went into the locker room pretty confident, happy with how we put our foot on the gas,” Broberg said. “The energy in the locker room was really good. We just knew we needed to come out like, ‘We still mean business. Get the job done.’”
Elkhorn Valley’s 14-point lead was no place to get comfortable though. The Bluejays went on a 16-0 run in the third quarter, pulling ahead in score after a layup from senior forward Kennedy Baumert. Broberg sank a 3-pointer to end the third quarter 37-35 in the Falcons’ favor.
“When you're down here, everybody wants to end on a win, and you're gonna get the other team's best effort,” Elkhorn Valley coach Sarah Black said. “You’ve got to keep grinding and play through mistakes and make sure that you celebrate the little things.”
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Falcons added a steady eight points to their score, in hopes of leaving the Bluejays behind. However, Guardian Angels Central Catholic senior guard Adyson Luebbert made her free-throws with just over a minute left to bring it to a mere four-point gap.
With about 30 seconds remaining, the Falcons gained a seven-point lead only for Guardian Angels Central Catholic junior forward Charlie Dinslage to sink a 3-pointer and bring the score within four points again. Nevertheless, the Falcons held onto their lead and secured victory.
“This is definitely new territory for them,” Elkhorn Valley coach Brendan Dittmer said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to be in that spot before. These kids hopefully can remember that, but I guarantee we have a lot of alumni that are really excited.”
Elkhorn Valley is headed to the championship. If the Falcons win, it will be their first state title since 2010. The Falcons will play Oakland-Craig at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 8, at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Published in UNLimited Sports, read here.
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