Wausa Youth qualify for Heartland States Regional Championship in March
WAUSA — This weekend was full of basketball in action at the Midwinter Classic Clash of the Plains tournament in Wayne, NE. This tournament is 2 days long and has teams from all over Nebraska participate. The 4th grade boys and 6th grade boys were among the teams competing.
The 4th grade boys team were made up of Kobe Maertins, Trenton Wiseley, Ashton Baue, Dawson Kraft, Jacob Schindler and Trace Wakeley. The team was coached by Curt and Beth Maertins.
The 6th grade team members were Koy Kraft, Matthew Schindler, Brady Kristensen, Brent Kristensen, Mac Carlson, Lincoln Thorell, Rogan Hoesing, Junior Herrara, Ryan Kleinschmit and Cooper Gubbels. They were coached most of the day by Brandon Kristensen as Tim Schindler was coaching the Wausa junior high boys in Hartington that morning.
The 4th grade boys started out their morning by taking on Elkhorn Valley in pool play. The boys started strong and were ahead, but the Elkhorn Valley came back and ended up making a shot in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to tie the game. The Vikings held on and were able to win in overtime with a score of 26-25 by scoring 1 point by a free throw by Kobe Maertins. The Vikings would go on to take on Elkhorn in their second game. It was a back and forth game and the Vikings took the win by only 2 points with a score of 36-34. With those 2 wins the Vikings were headed to the championship game where they would take on Wayne. This game was a nail biter. The Vikings got behind the first half as their shots would just not fall despite their best efforts. In the second half the Vikings made a run and ended up tying the game at 23 points apiece, in the final minute to send it to overtime. The Vikings played hard but just could not get a basket to fall in overtime and fell to Wayne by 4 points. The Vikings got 2nd place and qualified for the Heartland States Regional Championship in March. The boys played hard and never gave up. Their determination on the court was fun to watch.
The 6th grade boys had a different bracket setup as they only had 4 teams in the division. They played each team once to determine the winners. The Vikings played Wayne, Plainview and Norfolk. The Vikings were dominant in each game as each ended with a win for the Vikings. Their final game was close though as they won by 2 points. The 6th grade boys also qualified for the Heartland States Regional Championship game in March.
Both teams and coaches have showed their determination and hard work these past few weekends. The many hours of practices over the past 2 months has really paid off for both groups. Their ability to play as a team and work together is evident in the way they perform. Stay tuned for more exciting updates about tournament play for our area youth in the coming weeks.
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