The Ansley/Litchfield Spartans will open play today at the NSAA boys state basketball championships in Lincoln. Ansley/Litchfield will play Maywood Hayes Center this evening at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in the Class D1 state quarterfinals. The Spartans are 19-5 this season and qualified for the state tournament by defeating Bancroft-Rosalie in the D1-8 district championship game 56-46. Ansley/Litchfield is led in scoring by Luke Bailey and Leyton Rohde who average 14.3 and 13.3 points per game respectively. A/L is making their 2nd trip to the state tournament in the past three years having qualified back in 2021. Their opponent, Maywood Hayes Center is 25-2 this season with their only losses coming to Bertrand and North Platte St. Pat’s by a combined three points. Ansley/Litchfield head coach Matt Drew visited with Central Nebraska’s Sports Source this week as the Spartans prepare for a championship run. Drew said that one of the keys to the team’s success this year has been the communication and understanding between players and coaches.
Drew shared what he believes to be some of the biggest areas of improvement during the course of the season.
The winner of the today’s game will advance out to the Class D1 semifinals on Friday to face the winner of tonight’s game between Johnson Brock and Howells Dodge. The other half of the D1 bracket will feature top seed North Platte St. Pat’s vs Mead and Elm Creek vs Dundy County Stratton. Tonight’s game between Ansley/Litchfield and Maywood Hayes Center will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and kbbn.com. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH A/L HEAD COACH MATT DREW
