Heartland Hoops Classic: Session One Recap

<p><em>Saturday brought us the 15th edition of the Heartland Hoops Classic in Grand Island, Nebraska. This event is a must-watch every year and serves as a day-long showcase of basketball talent from across the state. This year’s event featured seven games, mostly consisting of cross-class matchups, culminating with a national showcase matchup between Link Academy and Wasatch Academy. For my recaps of the action, I will be focusing only on the 6 games featuring teams from Nebraska. </em></p> <p><strong>Game #1: Ashland Greenwood 84 Grand Island Northwest 32</strong></p> <p>Coming in as one of the top teams in Class C1, Ashland Greenwood dominated this one from start to finish, thanks in big part to a second-quarter explosion where they outscored GINW 29-5. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="890577" first="Cale" last="Jacobsen"] scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second quarter. A majority of his points came from showing off his stellar slashing skill and the ability to draw fouls around the rim. Jacobsen, the top uncommitted senior in the state, wasn’t just scoring the ball on Saturday as he also chipped in 6 rebounds, 6 steals, 4 assists, and 1 block in a stat sheet stuffing performance. He was not alone however in terms of strong performances. 6’2 senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="1236326" first="Brooks" last="Kissinger"] scored 14 points on 6-6 shooting from the field, while 6’6 senior [player_tooltip player_id="1371600" first="Max" last="Parker"] scored 10 which included a pair of corner 3’s, and [player_tooltip player_id="1253997" first="Dane" last="Jacobsen"], Cale’s younger brother, chipped in 13 points off the bench. The bright spot for Northwest was 6’4 senior Wyatt Jensen who was the only Viking in double figures with 12 points. </p> <p><strong>Game #2: Doniphan-Trumbull 70 Osceola 59</strong></p> <p>Doniphan-Trumbull started and finished this game strong, it was the middle third from Osceola that made it interesting. Osceola, a Class D2 school was punching up two classes against Doniphan-Trumbull. The Bulldogs put up a great fight thanks to their Mr. Everything, multi-sport star, 6-foot guard Isaiah Zelasney who finished with 21 points and 4 assists. Between Zelasney and 6’3 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="1131122" first="Kale" last="Gustafson"] who finished with 19 points, the Bulldogs surged in the second quarter to a 36-11 halftime lead. However, Doniphan-Trumbull was down but not out and put together an impressive second-half comeback behind one of the more impressive individual performances of the day. The star for the Cardinals was 6’1 senior guard Ethan Smith. 14 of his game-high 28 points came in the 4th quarter, where Doniphan-Trumbull outscored Osceola 22-9 to cement the winning deficit. </p> <p><strong>Game #3 Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 59 Milford 44</strong></p> <p>This game was all about the Sjuts brothers for Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family. The 6’5 twin brothers who are both junior college signees combined for 35 of the Bulldogs’ 59 points. [player_tooltip player_id="890576" first="Jacob" last="Sjuts"], who is committed to Des Moines Area Community College, reminded everyone in attendance on Saturday that’s a pretty darn good basketball player as well. He led the Bulldogs with a game-high 23 points on 8-13 shooting, but his 9 assists and 9 rebounds were even more wildly impressive. [player_tooltip player_id="890573" first="Jason" last="Sjuts"], the twin who is committed to playing basketball at the next level for Northeastern Junior College knocked down four 3-pointers in the game to finish with 12 points on the game. Milford was led by junior forward [player_tooltip player_id="1235593" first="Seth" last="Stutzman"] who finished 12 points, while [player_tooltip player_id="890603" first="Jaxon" last="Weyand"] finished with 9. With the victory, Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family remains one of the two remaining unbeaten boys basketball teams in Nebraska. </p> <p><strong>Game #4 Omaha Concordia 68 Aurora 57</strong></p> <p>Omaha Concordia is one of the better teams in Class C1 and they’ve played their fair share of cross-class matchups against Class B schools this season. Following Saturday’s win over Aurora, they improved to 7-1 on the season when facing Class B schools. Concordia led this one from start to finish despite a couple of pushes from the Huskies. Concordia 6’1 senior guard Zac Kulus put on a show. Leading the Mustangs finishing with 24 points on 7-14 shooting and 7-8 from the free-throw line. Kulus will play basketball at Concordia University (NE) next season. A new name to know after this game is 6’9 Concordia sophomore forward [player_tooltip player_id="1300977" first="Quientan" last="McCafferty"] who chipped in 12 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. Aurora saw strong performances from senior forward Preston Ramakers who finished with 17 points and fellow senior Tate Nachtigal had 12 points. </p> <p><em><strong>Stay Tuned for a Recap of Session Two Action from the Heartland Hoops Classic.</strong></em></p>