The NSAA boys state basketball championships begin today in Lincoln. SEM begins play tonight in the Class D2 tournament. It marks SEM’s second straight appearance at the tournament and their fifth overall appearance. SEM is 17-7 overall and advanced to the state tournament with a 46-40 win over Lawrence-Nelson to claim the D2-3 district championship. The Mustangs made it to the state semifinals last year and finished third at the tournament winning over Shelton in the 3rd place consolation game. SEM lost some key pieces from last year’s team but have been able to put together another post season run. SEM head coach Darby Line visited with KCNI/KBBN sports and talked about the identity of this year’s team and how they have been able to make a return trip to the state tournament.
“Well a lot of these guys were playing JV basketball last year so we knew they were a pretty good defensive team even playing against JV players last year and this year they’ve kind of stepped that game up even a little bit stronger and I think we’re a really good defensive team. And some key players have come a long offensively and we’ve been able to score enough points I guess to win some bigger games but I think defense has been the key to our success.”
SEM will face Walthill tonight. Walthill is 18-4 on the season and averages 66 points per game. Walthill advanced to state by defeating High Plains Community 73-52 in the D2-4 district championship game. Today’s game is scheduled to tip off at 7:45 tonight at the Devaney Center in Lincoln. The game will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and on the web at kbbn.com. The winner will advance to the state semifinals where they will face the winner of Maywood Hayes Center vs Elm Creek.
On the other side of the D2 bracket, top seed Shelton will play Humphrey St. Francis and Wynot will face St. Mary’s of O’Neill
Listen to our full interview with SEM head coach Darby Line
Class A and Class C2 will play their opening round tournament games today as well. Games in Class A include (#1) Bellevue West vs (#8) Creighton Prep, (#4) Omaha North vs (#5) Omaha Central, (#2) Millard North vs (#7) Gretna, and (#3) Westside vs (#6) Lincoln Southeast. Games in Class C2 include (#1) Amherst vs (#8) Bridgeport, (#4) Summerland vs (#5) Cross County, (#2) Ponca vs (#7) Norfolk Catholic, and (#3) Cedar Catholic vs (#6) Lincoln Lutheran.
