2017 Girls State Basketball Recap

Another year and another great Nebraska Girls State Basketball Tournament! I was able to cover the last three games of the Championships for Callam Sports Photo again. Be sure to head over there to check out photos from the whole tournament!

The games I covered featured the title games for classes C2, A and D2. And this year, those games included some of my favorite teams -- ones from Southeast Nebraska! I get to cover both Diller-Odell (C2 Runner-Up) and Falls City Sacred Heart (D2 Champions) during the regular season. The Griffins are in the coverage area of the Beatrice Daily Sun. And the Irish join the Griffins in playing in the MUDECAS Conference Basketball Tournament in January! 

I have to say that these two teams were great. They both include some special seniors.

That senior class from Diller-Odell made back-to-back state championship appearances in volleyball. And this month, they've created some huge buzz at this year's basketball tournament, knocking off perennial power Crofton! There was always tons of excitement, yelling & smiles from Diller-Odell over the last few years. 

And from Sacred Heart, the senior class has made quite the four-year run: 2014 - 3rd, 2015 - 1st, 2016 - 3rd, and finally 2017 - 1st again! It was fun in January to see them battle to win the Girls A Division at the MUDECAS Tournament. And then to follow through on their dreams to avenge last year's semifinal loss was very cool. 

So here are some of my favorite images from Saturday's last three championship games: C2 - Howells-Dodge defeats Diller-Odell (39-30); A - Lincoln Southwest defeats Millard South (56-51 OT); and D2 - Falls City Sacred Heart defeats Wynot (48-36).