2016 Girls State Basketball Recap
For my recap posts of tournaments, it's hard for me to edit down the number of images I share. On one hand, I don't want to overwhelm everyone with a bajillion photos. On the other, there are a lot of great people, in this case student athletes, that I want to share a little glimpse of.
This year, I photographed 4.5 of the 6 championship games at Pinnacle Bank Area. And of those five games I saw, four had great finishes. It was probably the best overall day of championship games I've seen.
Starting with Kearney Catholic's game-winner with less than 10 seconds left (fourth photo below). Then Elkhorn South cruised to a 10-point win -- the largest margin of victory all day.
After the session break, Wynot hit a colossal winning three-pointer in the closing seconds, only to almost give up a game-flipping layup at the buzzer.
Lincoln East brought thousands of supporters along for a tremendous ride that was capped with a wide-open bunny basket as the clincher. But they even still needed to survive another close shot by Millard West on the other end.
In the nightcap, Crofton made it five state titles in a row with a pair of free throws to keep GACC just far enough away.
So enough with the intro! Here are 60 of my favorite moments from this year's girls state basketball tournament:
JCC Parents Night vs Yutan Basketball
Tonight was the beginning of the end. It was the Thunderbirds last home basketball game of the year. And therefore, it was Parents' Night... and also Senior Night.
And it was glorious. The JCC Boys started off the night scoring 25 points in the opening quarter. But ended up trailing by two points at halftime. It was almost a furious pace, with the baskets coming in bunches for both teams.
It came down to the wire as Yutan had the ball, trailing by two, with one more chance with less than five seconds. The Thunderbirds withstood this potential game-winner -- and the reactions of the JCC Cheerleaders were just priceless! Check out the series getting a close look at the suspense of this 67-65 victory.
And... If all of this sounds familiar, then just look back on February 14, 2014. The JCC Boys held off another potential game-winning shot by Yutan on Parents' Night almost exactly two years ago. I've included that photo at the bottom.
As mentioned above, this wasn't the first time the JCC Boys had to hold off a potential game-winner by Yutan on a Parents' Night. This is from February 14, 2014, when the Thunderbirds won 53-52, avenging a 60-51 loss to the Chieftains only six days before in the 2014 ECNC Championship Game.
And one final note: tonight's 2016 victory over Yutan (67-65) was JCC's first outing since being held to only 39 points in a loss in the 2016 ECNC Championship Game (vs Elmwood-Murdock).
MUDECAS 2016 Recap
The MUDECAS Basketball Tournament held in Beatrice, Nebraska is pretty cool. This year's contest was the 87th year with 32 total teams (two divisions of 8 teams, boys & girls). And as part of my regular season sports freelancing, I photographed this event for the Beatrice Daily Sun.
This meant that I was visiting the SCC location, home of the B Division action. You'll see photos from Day 1 (Monday) Girls B Action, then Day 2 (Tuesday,) Boys B Action, following by Day 3 (Thursday, Boys & Girls B Semifinal games) and then the championship games on Day 4 & 5 (Friday/Saturday).
And the last two days I got to visit the Beatrice City Auditorium. It's definitely an old school building. And a lot of inconveniences (bathrooms are lacking in number & quality), parking is always a scramble and space is overall limited. But it provides a fantastic scene for basketball. With its vintage seats, stage for press, and big old drape-covered windows, it is oozing with character and I love it.
To start, here's a tipoff photo between Sterling & Pawnee City -- but it's not the opening tip. This was the tipoff for the starting of the third (of four total) overtimes. These two teams were battling it out for the Boys B Division Championship, and with fans waiting in the halls for the A Division game, the place was probably as full as I've seen since 2013.
I know you probably are tired of all of the sports photos. But it is one of my favorite things to photograph -- plus it works great with my schedule. So, on with the photos! Thanks for checking out my recap of the 87th MUDECAS Basketball Tournament. And congrats to all of the teams including the champions: Bruning-Davenport-Shickley (Boys A Division), Sterling (Boys B Division), Falls City Sacred Heart (Girls A Division) and Meridian (Girls B Division).
Remembering 2015
My 2015 was a great year. Started some things and finished some others. And along the way, I took some photos.
There are a lot of sports photos. And sports are perhaps my favorite thing to shoot. But it is also the one thing that works best with my day job.
I still work for a K-12 school district full-time, so taking photos is still a nights & weekends thing. You'll see a lot from the 2015 MUDECAS Basketball Tournament, which reminds me, the 2016 edition is coming up in a few days! You'll also notice that there are only a few football photos. This year, I helped start a live streaming service at JCC, where students broadcast home athletic events. All of the commentary, camerawork (and eventually on-screen graphics) are done by high school students. And with football being only one night a week, the new streaming service took away a lot of opportunities.
Another absence in my 2015 recap is something that I spend quite a few hours over the last few years - my building renovation. I hope to get a post about the whole process soon. And perhaps the bigger news: I'll soon be having a grand opening party/open house!
Stay tuned for more information about that... And enjoy my recap of 2015. Here's to the new year!
Recap of State Volleyball 2015 - Part Two (Finals)
Eyes on the prize! Here are some of my favorite images from the final day of the 2015 Nebraska State Volleyball Championships. It was another full day of six games (from Class D2 clear to Class A) at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. If you haven't been to the BDSC since the renovations to make it a volleyball-centric venue, you should definitely get there soon!
Congratulations to all of the 2015 State Champions and the runner-ups. Shooting the championship days, I typically rotate from either shooting the presentations on the court (with the medals & trophy presentation) or shooting the post-game team portraits. And unless you've been a player or coach in that runner-up role, it's hard to explain the rollercoaster of emotions.
Photographing the trophy hand-off is an exhilarating time. But shooting that runner-up team portrait can be a rough gig. For some players & coaches, this moment is one that is tough to handle. So many weeks, months and years of preparation to just come up one game or even one play short of the ultimate prize. But you should hear some of the words of encouragement from some of the coaches. Heck I'd even call them speeches.
But being in that room with those teams really can put things in perspective. A lot of those schools & communities should be very proud of the way these young people represent their part of the state. And countless of players will go on to do a lot greater things in life than winning or losing a high school sports game. So if you've ever been in that runner-up chair, be proud. You have already accomplished a ton making it to the state tournament/playoffs or even the final championship game. I'm not saying don't be still hungry for more. But don't let this one moment take over your lives.
High school sports are amazing for many reasons, but one of those is the amount of emotion that is poured into just a game. And so I am forever grateful to share that moment when you receive your championship medal and host that state champion trophy.
Games covered:
Class D2: Exeter-Milligan vs St. Mary's
Class D1: Johnson-Brock vs Diller-Odell
Class C2: Hastings SC vs Stanton
Class C1: Kearney Catholic vs Ord
Class B: Omaha Skutt vs Gretna
Class A: Omaha Marian vs North Platte
So here's to the end of the fall sports winter season. Now on to basketball - which is still fantastic. Will just miss the sunlight/outdoors of football. See you around the court!
