Week 8 Wrap Up- Stand Out Performers Part 1

<p><em>Week 8 in Nebraska High School Basketball featured a myriad of interesting matchups across the state. Whether it be cross-class matchups, the renewing of rivalries, or even conference championship games, this week had a little bit of everything. Starting with some Thursday night contests, here are some prospects who stood out in some marque games. </em></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958192" first="Ryan" last="Larsen"] - Millard West</strong></p> <p>A 6’2 senior guard, [player_tooltip player_id="958192" first="Ryan" last="Larsen"] came into the season as one of the better shooters in the state of Nebraska especially in Class A, and against Omaha Burke on Thursday night, he reminded all who watched just why that’s the case. Larsen scored a career-high 33 points on 12-15 shooting, which also included a Millard West school-record 8 makes from 3-point range. The Wildcats are going to be an interesting team to watch during the second half of the season with some solid pieces to compete in the postseason, and I have no doubt that Larsen will without a doubt be a key cog for Millard West and an underrated name to keep an eye on. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="890514" first="Kallan" last="Herman"] - Norfolk </strong></p> <p>6’2 senior combo guard [player_tooltip player_id="890514" first="Kallan" last="Herman"] is having quite the senior campaign for the Norfolk Panthers. After a solid summer campaign for OSA Roubicek, Herman is one of the leading scorers not just in class A, but in the entire state of Nebraska averaging 26.4 points a game, and just under 5 rebounds a game as well. Against Lincoln High on Thursday night, Harman had a season-high output of 36 points for the night along with 7 rebounds. Herman received an offer from NAIA Doane University at the end of the summer season and is currently second in the state of Nebraska in scoring average. He is also averaging 41% from the field and 78% from the free-throw line. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958187" first="Trevor" last="Kasischke"] - Wahoo </strong></p> <p>One of the marquee matchups to start the weekend slate of games was a cross-class matchup between Wahoo and Waverly on Thursday night in Wahoo. The Class C1 Warriors played host to the Class B Vikings, and what resulted was a back and forth affair that resulted in a 60-58 win for the visitors from Waverly. Despite the result, Wahoo senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="958187" first="Trevor" last="Kasischke"] had himself a night. The 6’3 senior guard poured in 26 points on 11-14 shooting from the field, including going 4-5 from three-point range. His inside-out game was on full display, showing solid body control and finishing ability at the rim to go along with the impressive shooting display. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="981709" first="Cole" last="Murray"] - Waverly</strong></p> <p>Waverly is one of the best teams in Class B, in part because they are well-coached, and because they have a multitude of ways to attack opponents. On Thursday, senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="981709" first="Cole" last="Murray"] was the go-to guy for the Vikings, scoring 25 points on 8-15 shooting to go along with 6 assists and 5 steals on the night. Murray’s fingerprints were all over this big road win for Waverly. </p> <p><strong>Gunnar Ray - Oakland Craig</strong></p> <p>Another marquee Thursday night tilt was also in Class C1 as North Bend Central hosted Oakland-Craig and I was lucky to be able to find a live stream of this game. 6’0 senior guard Gunnar Ray led the way for Oakland-Craig with 30 points and was efficient in doing so shooting 13-20 from the field for the game. Most of his makes were at the rim and Ray showcased good finishing ability. He also had some good makes in the mid-range game. This was certainly one of the more efficient 30 balls I’ve watched this season. </p> <p><strong>Jaxon Wietfeld - North Bend Central </strong></p> <p>Every single time that I watched the Lincoln Supreme 17’s play last summer I was a fan of how Jaxon Wietfeld played. A 6’4 guard who is smooth with the ball in his hands. Wietfeld led the host Tigers against Oakland Craig with 19 points on the night. He is a strong finisher who is not afraid to put his head down and finish through contact, and that was on full display on Thursday night. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p>