GICC Boys Basketball Season Comes To An End

(Grand Island, NE) - It was a back-and-forth affair the entire game Wednesday night at Crusader Gym in the boys Class C2 District 4 final as the West Holt Huskies defeated the Central Catholic Crusaders 41-38. 

GICC would trail 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. Crusaders would take a one-point lead at the half 18-17 with a 9-7 2nd quarter advantage. Both teams would continue to trade punches in the 3rd quarter. A Thomas Liban three-pointer would give GICC a 25-23 lead with 4:32 left in the 3rd. West Holt would then take a 28-27 lead in the final minutes of the quarter. GICC would get a Liban two-pointer and a free throw from Thomas Birch to give GICC a 30-28 advantage, but then a West Holt bucket just before the end of the quarter would tie the game at 30-30 heading to the fourth quarter. 

West Holt would outscore the Crusaders in the final stanza 11-8. The see-saw theme between the two squads continued to the very end. The two would be tied at 37-37 with 1:11 left. GICC would hold a 38-37 lead but a Zachary Hooey bucket would make it 39-38. A 12-foot jumper by Thomas Liban would miss and give the basketball to West Holt in the final seconds. Two free throws by Hooey would give West Holt a 41-38 lead with 7 seconds. Left. GICC would get the ball up the floor after spending their final timeout and have a chance to tie the game, but a three-pointer by Thomas Liban would miss to end the game and give the Huskies the win. The Crusaders were led by Thomas Birch with 14 points and Thomas Liban with 11 points. Zachary Hooey led West Holt with 24, including 17 in the second half. 

West Holt now advances to the Class C2 state tournament, the Huskies' first birth to state since 2014, with a record of 21-5. GICC sees their season end with a record of 20-5. 

West Holt   10  7  13  11  - 41 

GICC            9   9   12  8 -  38 

Huskie Scoring: Nemetz 3 - Rentschler 6 - Konrad 8 - Hooey 24 

Crusader Scoring: Wolfe 8 - Liban 11 - Birch 14 - Haney 3 - Urbanski 2