Saturday Morning Sports – UNK Women Survive Shootout with Duluth; Face Griffons, Friday State Basketball Champions, Saturday Championship Schedule, Storm Clinch Playoffs with Win, UNK Wrestling Continues in Nationals, Local Sports Schedule

UNK WOMEN SURVIVE DULUTH, BATTLE MO WEST IN SECOND ROUND:

Junior guard Trinity Law scored a game-high 21 points and Nebraska-Kearney was plus 10 on the glass to beat 12th-ranked Minnesota-Duluth, 77-70, in an NCAA Tournament first round game Friday afternoon in Hays, Kan.

The sixth-seeded Lopers (24-7) stopped a 16-game win streak for the Bulldogs (24-5) who came in as the third-seed in the Central Regional. UNK faces MIAA-member Missouri Western State (21-9) Saturday at five.

UNK has won all the matchups with Missouri Western this season; a 60-48 win on the road on Jan.13 and the final home contest of the season on Feb. 25 75-64.

STATE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND RESULTS:

FRIDAY CHAMPIONSHIP / THIRD PLACE GAMES RESULTS:

GIRLS:

CLASS A Championship – #5 Lincoln Southwest v. #2 Fremont

• FREMONT 37 – 32 Lincoln Southwest

CLASS C1 Championship – #1 Lincoln Lutheran v. #2 North Bend Central

• NORTH BEND CENTRAL 35 – 31 Lincoln Lutheran (OT)

CLASS C2 Third Place – #4 Crofton v. #7 Oakland-Craig

• OAKLAND-CRAIG 60 – 57 Crofton

CLASS D1 Third Place – #2 Bergan v. #8 Hartington Cedar Catholic

• BERGAN 60 – 39 Hartington Cedar Catholic

CLASS D2 Championship – #1 Falls City Sacred Heart v. #2 Humphrey St. Francis

• FALLS CITY SACRED HEART 43 – 33 Humphrey St. Francis

BOYS:

CLASS B Championship – #1 Omaha Skutt v. #2 Omaha Roncalli

• OMAHA RONCALLI 52 – 37 Omaha Skutt

CLASS C1 Third Place – #3 Kearney Catholic v. #8 Fort Calhoun

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC 79 – 65 Fort Calhoun

CLASS C2 Championship – #4 GICC v. #3 Humphrey/Lindsay-Holy Family

• HUMPHREY/LINDSAY-HOLY FAMILY 43 – 42 GICC (OT)

CLASS D1 Championship – #3 Loomis v. #1 North Platte St. Patrick’s

• NORTH PLATTE ST. PATS 65 – 57 Loomis

CLASS D2 Third Place – #2 Falls City Sacred Heart v. #5 Osceola

• FALLS CITY SACRED HEART 63 – 40 Osceola

SATURDAY CHAMPIONSHIP/THIRD PLACE GAMES SCHEDULE:

GIRLS:

CLASS B CHAMPIONSHIP – #1 Elkhorn North v. #2 Omaha Skutt – 1 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)

CLASS C2 CHAMPIONSHIP – #1 Hastings St. Cecilia v. #3 Bridgeport – 4 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)

CLASS D1 CHAMPIONSHIP – #4 Shelton v. #3 Humphrey/Lindsay-Holy Family – 9 AM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)

BOYS:

CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP – #1 Millard North v. #2 Bellevue West – 6 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)

CLASS C1 CHAMPIONSHIP – #4 Auburn v. #2 Ashland-Greenwood – 11 AM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)

CLASS D2 CHAMPIONSHIP – #1 St. Mary’s v. #6 Parkview Christian – 8 PM (Pinnacle Bank Arena)

KEARNEY CATHOLIC EARNS THIRD PLACE IN C1 AFTER DOMINATING CINDERELLA:

The Kearney Catholic Stars wrapped up another stellar season with another postseason win at Lincoln East on Friday afternoon with a win over the Cinderella team of the tournament in #8 Fort Calhoun, 79-65. 

The Stars wrap up their season at 26-2 on the season and finish in third place in Class C1. 

STORM CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT:

The Tri-City Storm became the first team in the USHL this season to clinch a spot in the Clark Cup Playoffs in Friday’s 8-2 win over the Fargo Force at the Viaero Center. 

Reigning USHL Defenseman of the Week Mitchell Miller scored his second consecutive hat-trick in the game. Miller became the first defenseman in the history of the organization to record five points in a single game. Arsenii Sergeev notched his 25th victory of the season in goal for Tri-City and is now within one win of tying the organization’s record for most wins by a goaltender in a single season. 

The Storm will host the Force again tonight for “Concrete Cares/St. Patty’s Game” at the Viaero Center. 

LOPER WRESTLING DAY 1 NATIONALS UPDATE:

The top-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team will have eight All-Americans and is in first place with 67.5 points after day one of the NCAA Division II Championships in St. Louis.

The two-day event began Friday at 11 a.m. and run until late Saturday night. Check the meet webpage for the complete schedule, brackets and live media links.

UNK began the day with nine entries and moved five into the semifinals and has three left on the backside. Three-time defending national champion St. Cloud State (3rd/42.5) and MIAA rival Central Oklahoma (2nd/52.0) are close behind but both saw several key guys either eliminated already or moved to the backside.

UNK T&F EARNS ALL-AMERICANS:

The Nebraska-Kearney men’s track and field team picked up three All-Americans on the first day of the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships in Pittsburg, Kan.

The afternoon started with three Lopers taking part in the 800-meter prelims. There were three heats with the top two finishers in each, plus the next two top times, advancing to Saturday’s finals. Fremont redshirt freshman Wes Ferguson led third heat from start to finish (1:51.24) and is now a two-time All-American. 

Hastings junior Seth Simonson turned in a season-best 1:51.52 to have the seventh lowest time but won’t run in the finals as he was fifth in his heat and ninth overall. He does earn second-team All-American honors for the first time. Also in heat five, Kearney senior Cole Willis was sixth (1:53.25).

Kearney sophomore Brayden Sorensen competes in the high jump Saturday at 3:30 with Ferguson running the 800 finals at 6:25 p.m.

NEBRASKA SOFTBALL WINS OVER CAL STATE:

The Nebraska softball team (13-6) claimed its second win of the day against Cal State Fullerton (14-8) Friday afternoon in Fullerton, Calif. In a defensive battle, the Huskers were able to hold off the Titans for a 2-1 win. 

Senior Olivia Ferrell (7-3) dominated in the circle for the Huskers, pitching the complete game, tallying six strikeouts and eight hits. 

The Big Red return to action today at 11 a.m. CT to face Boston.

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BOYS BASKETBALL: State Third Place Game
    • #3 Kearney Catholic v. #8 Fort Calhoun
      • KCHS 79-65

• UNK:
• • WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ NCAA TOURNAMENT (Hays, KS)
    • UNK v. Minnesota-Duluth
      • 77-70

SATURDAY:

• UNK:
  • WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ NCAA TOURNAMENT (Hays, KS) – SECOND ROUND
    • UNK v. Missouri Western State – 5 PM
  • UNK MENS TRACK: @ NCAA Indoor Championships, Pittsburg, KS
  • WRESTLING: @ NCAA Div. 2 Championships
  • WOMENS TENNIS: @ Angelo State
  • SOFTBALL: @ Northwest Missouri State – 12 PM, 2 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • WOMENS WRESTLING: @ NAIA National Championships
  • BASEBALL: @ Rusmatt Tournament
    • v. Cornerstone University