2024 Playoffs: Eye-Opening Performances Early On
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As we dive deeper into the Playoffs, we are going to see more intense matchups as we get closer to the State Tournament. This past week, we had several prospects stand out in their own ways during their Post-season contests.…
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Continue ReadingAs we dive deeper into the Playoffs, we are going to see more intense matchups as we get closer to the State Tournament. This past week, we had several prospects stand out in their own ways during their Post-season contests. In the article below, we cover six of those athletes and their performances.
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As we start to get deep into the State Playoffs, we are going to start to see more and more matchups that could be really intense. One of the most recent matchups, in which two top tier teams faced off was this past week against Bridgeport High School and Sidney High School. In a highly anticipated matchup, the Bridgeport Bulldogs beat Sidney by a final of 40-33. In this game, the player that stood out the most on both sides was Guard, Olivia Loomis-Goltl Olivia Loomis-Goltl 5’10” | PG Bridgeport | 2024 State NE . OLG is a prospect that we have talked about a few times throughout this past season for her hardworking and production on the hardwood. Well in this contest, it was much of the same. She ended the night with a game high 15 Points on 5-8 shooting, while also bringing in 13 Rebounds, passing out 2 Assists, and creating 2 Steals in the open court. In the end, this one came down to turnovers. Bridgeport forced 26 turnovers against Sidney throughout the duration of this ball game and that was all the difference in a important 7 point win.
The Arlington Eagles won their Playoff matchup against Fort Calhoun last week by a final score of 45-32. In this contest, the most consistent and efficient player on the floor in my opinion was Emerson Timm Emerson Timm 5’6″ | PG Arlington | 2026 State NE of the Eagles. Timm is your ideal Point Guard. She understands pace of play, timing, her teammates, communication, and her own ability to a T. She is someone that can speed up the game or slow it down deepening on what her coaches want and she is always willing to make the extra pass or play for the other around her. In this contest, Timm ended with 14 Points on 3-6 shooting, while also recording some other positive stats throughout the game. This Eagles team is dangerous. They play like they have nothing to lose and whenever a team does that, they are usually the ones that come out with more energy in each contest they participate in. That was certainly the case in this game and because of that, they got the victory in the end. Moving them onto the next round of the Playoffs.
Emma Fisher Emma Fisher 5'8" | CG Fairfield | 2026 NE
Emma Fisher Emma Fisher 5'8" | CG Fairfield | 2026 NE
The Sandy Creek Cougars snuck out a narrow win against the Red Cloud Warriors last week, 29-27. In a battle that was all defense, someone had to put together a night to remember and come out on a top. The player that showed out the best throughout this entire evening was Emma Fisher Emma Fisher 5’8″ | CG Fairfield | 2026 NE of the Cougars. Fisher has been her teams lifeline all season long on the offensive side of the floor and that was no different in this contest. At the final buzzer, Fisher recorded 11 Points (4-11), 3 Rebounds, and 3 Steals. As you can tell, in a low scoring game, to put up double digits is vital and Fisher made that happen, helping the Cougars move onto the next round. If the Cougars want to keep up this momentum, I would advise that they stick with their game-plan and keep on feeding Fisher. She makes things happen. If they keep it simple, anything is possible moving forward.
Jaycelyn Hoos
Jaycelyn Hoos
The Sumner-Eddyville-Miller Mustangs may have lost their matchup last week against Amherst but that didn’t stop Jaycelyn Hoos from putting together a game to remember. Hoos ended the contest with game high 26 Points (9-14), 13 Rebounds, 3 Assists, and 1 Block. In a battle that was close for most of the contest, Hoos was the individual that kept her team in it. She may only stand at 5’7 but she has the heart of a lion and isn’t afraid to mix it up in the paint. As you can tell by her stat line, she boards hard. She is very good at understanding when a miss is going to happen off of a shot and where she needs to go on the floor to find that rebound. The Mustangs season may be over for this winter but the future J Hoos has is interesting. If you see what she put together this season, I wouldn’t be surprised if she came back next year even better.
Earlier in this article, I mentioned the Bridgeport Bulldogs and their major Playoff victory this past week against Sidney High School. Other than the Bulldogs star, OLG, they also had another player step up big time and that was Freshman, Olivia Brown Olivia Brown 5’6″ | SG Bridgeport | 2027 NE . Brown has been a talent that has been making her presence and name known over the past few months because of her production on the varsity floor. When you come into a program and are placed on a team with other talents prospects, it can be hard to stand out early on but Brown seems to have stepped in without missing a beat. She has been a player all season long that this team can rely on and that was case against Sidney the other night as well. She ended that game with 10 Points on 50% shooting, while also grabbing three crucial Steals. Like I said above , this contest was won on the defensive side of the ball as the Bulldogs created 26 turnovers and Brown had a big part in that.
Highlights
Natalie Knippelmeyer
Natalie Knippelmeyer
Natalie Knippelmeyer registered 19 Points (8-10), 5 Rebounds, and 2 Assists in her Johnson-Brock team’s 20 Points win last week against Diller-Odell High School. In a contest that had some skilled prospects on both sides of the floor, Knippelmeyer was the most efficient and consistent player on the day. Throughout this whole contest, she just seemed to make the right choices wherever given an opportunity and because of that, she looked great and so did her team. This group is based on teamwork. They may have lead scorers each night but they play with a team effort and multiple players always contribute. We may be talking about Knipplemeyer in this article for her performance in this game but don’t forget, they also had 2-3 other prospects in double digits by the time the final buzzer sounded. If they continue to play with this type of effort and work throughout one another, they are going to be hard to stop as these Playoffs dwindle down.