ALBION – A day after the Ponca girls punched their ticket to the state tourney, their boys program was in search for a district title.
From Boone Central/Newman Grove HS in Albion, #5 Ponca competed against #12 Amherst in the C2-5 District final Saturday late afternoon.
After trailing early in the game, Ponca took control for the remainder of the three quarters winning 68-49. The Indians improve to 23-4 while the Broncos fell to 17-7 as Ponca qualifies for their 18th state tournament, fourth straight district title.
Amherst held a 14-10 first quarter lead before Ponca jumped ahead thanks to a 19-12 second. At the break, the Indians led 29-26. Ponca then outscored Amherst 17-15 in the third and 22-8 in the fourth.
Brandon Kneifl paced Ponca on the afternoon with 26 points, Carter Kingsbury added 12 points while Cayden Phillips tallied 10 points. Other unofficial scoring came from Bryar Bennet with eight points, Paul Masin with five points, Aden Anderson had four points, Zachary Fernau hit a three and Dalton Touney finished with a point.
Amherst leaders went to Joshua Eloe with 15 points and Tanner Thompson had 13 points.
The 2020 NSAA boys state basketball tournament will played in Lincoln starting Thursday, March 12 – Saturday, March 14.
Class C2 District Final scores:
C2-1: #1 Grand Island Central Catholic vs. #16 Ainsworth on Monday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m. from O’Neill
C2-2: #2 BRLD vs. #15 Twin River on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. from Norfolk Catholic
C2-3: #3 Sutton vs. #14 Oakland-Craig on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. from Columbus High
C2-4: #4 Yutan vs. #13 Shelby-Rising City on Tuesday, March 3 from Midland University in Fremont
C2-5: #5 Ponca defeated #12 Amherst, 68-49
C2-6: #11 Palmyra defeated #6 Hartington Cedar Catholic, 52-44
C2-7: #7 Bridgeport vs. #10 Doniphan-Trumbull on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. from Maxwell
C2-8: #8 Centennial vs. #9 Dundy County-Stratton on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. from Holdrege
Class D1 District schedule/scores:
D1-1: #1 North Platte St. Patrick’s vs. #16 East Butler on Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. from Wood River
D1-2: #2 Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family vs. #15 Elmwood-Murdock on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. from Midland University in Fremont
D1-3: #3 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge vs. #14 Anselmo-Merna on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. from Boone Central/Newman Grove in Albion. Pregame show coverage is set for 6:45 p.m. on Big Red Country ‘KTCH’ 104.9 and waynedailynews.com
D1-4: #4 Osmond vs. #13 McCool-Junction on Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. from Central Community College in Columbus
D1-5: #5 Paxton vs. #12 Axtell on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. from Gothenburg
D1-6: #6 Southern Valley vs. #11 Heartland on Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. from Kearney Catholic
D1-7: #7 Fullerton vs. #10 West Holt on Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. from Ord
D1-8: #8 Pleasanton vs. #9 Elm Creek on Tuesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. from Kearney High
Class D2 District schedule/scores:
D2-1: #1 Humphrey St. Francis vs. #16 Giltner on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. from Cross County
D2-2: #2 Falls City Sacred Heart defeated #15 Sioux Center, 81-27
D2-3: #3 Loomis defeated #14 Lawrence-Nelson, 59-27
D2-4: #4 Mullen defeated #13 Exeter-Milligan, 68-39
D2-5: #5 St. Mary’s of O’Neill vs. #12 Hyannis on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. from Valentine
D2-6: #6 Parkview Christian vs. #11 Wallace on Tuesday, March 3 at 6 p.m. from Shelton
D2-7: #7 Johnson-Brock vs. #10 Mead on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. from Weeping Water
D2-8: #8 Randolph vs. #9 Deshler on Monday, March 6 at 6 p.m. from Shelby-Rising City