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03/11/2007: "Lady Warriors 'three-peat' state basketball crown"

Can you say “threepeat”?
In the most dramatic fashion imaginable, the Crofton Lady Warriors won their third consecutive Class C1 state girls basketball crown by beating Norfolk Catholic 47-46 on a last-second, buzzer-beating 3-point shot by senior Amber Hegge in the championship game.
The Lady Warriors move into elite company, joining six other Nebraska high schools to have won three consecutive state championships. Only Sandy Creek and South SiouxCity (6 each) and Battle Creek, West Point Central Catholic and South Sioux (4 each) stand ahead on the all-time list. The CHS program also moved into the top five for most state titles.
But the 2007 victory will last in the memories of players, coaches and fans for a long, long time. The dramatic finish that saw Hegge getting the ball with a shade over five seconds on the clock, and then weave around three Norfolk Catholic defenders before meeting a fourth defender Nicole Brungardt about three feet outside the 3-point arc on the CHS side of the court. The pair leaped straight up, and Brungardt appeared to have Hegge’s shot stopped. Then the Crofton senior bent her upper body to the right and let the ball go with one-tenth of a second left on the clock (television replays showed the ball gone in time). As the frames of the backboard glowed red, signifying the end of the game, the ball smacked against the backboard and plunged through the hoop securing the three points needed for Crofton to win.

It was the second time in three meetings that the Lady Warriors had beaten Norfolk Catholic, which finished as runnerup for the third time in the past five tournaments. CHS beat Catholic 45-42 n the Crofton court in the regular season, but the Lady Knights turned the tables on the CHS bunch in the district finals, winning 47-42.
Hegge said that as she made her way down the court, sidestepping three Norfolk defenders, she could hear her teammates counting down the game clock. Her mind quickly touched on a similar situation a little over a week earlier when she tried a late-game 3-pointer in the district final only to heave it over the backboard.
“I was thinking, ‘Just don’t shoot it over the backboard.’” she recalled after the game.
“The way she’s played in clutch situations through her career, it’s not surprising this is the way she would end it,” CHS coach Aaron Losing, who upped his Crofton coaching career to 70-6 and three state crowns, “I thought time was running off really fast, and they were making her zig-zag. But she was able to rise up and bank it in.”
“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” he chuckled.
The Lady Warriors were pretty darn good through the bulk of the championship test, as they maintained the lead until the 2:55 mark of the final quarter when Catholic stole the ball and Rachel Vribicky popped a 5-footer through the hoop for a 44-42 lead.
The Lady Warriors never held leads of more than 4 through the first half, though Catholic tied the count once, at the 3:38 mark of the second stanza. Crofton took a 22-20 lead into the halftime break.
Dfense, which CHS used very effectively through the three-day event to best opponents, provided Crofton’s slim lead. The Lady Warriors had registered 7 turnovers in the game’s first 16 minutes, yet their hustling defense kept Catholic away from the hoop, often forcing a turnover (NC had 5), or delaying shot attempts for a long as 30 seconds.
Crofton had 4 steals and a 12-7 rebound advantage that included 4 offensive boards to Catholic’s nine.
The Lady Knights tied the game on the first bucket of the second half, and trailed 28-25 at the 5:57 mark before Crofton, behind a quartet of Caitlin Jones free throws, pushed the gap to five, 32-25 with 3:51 on the clock.
But Catholic stormed right back and tied things at 32-32 before the Lady Warriors edged out to a 37-33 lead at the close of the third period.
When Tara Harmelink nailed a 3-pointer at the 6:45 point of the fourth frame, good for a 40-33 CHS lead, it looked like the Lady Warriors might be gaining control.
But the Lady Knights clamped down on defense, forcing Crofton into three turnovers and eight missed field goals. NC outscored Crofton 9-2 over the next three and a half minutes to tie the game at 42-42, and then gain the lead a few seconds later.
After Hegge hit a free throw at the 2:32 mark of the game, the teams traded turnovers and misses before Nicole Brungardt hit a free throw for a 45-43 NC lead with 25.2 seconds to play.
Morgan Wilken hit one of her two charity tries at the 5.7 mark, but Brungardt, who was fouled immediately on the inbounds pass by Hegge, dropped in one of her two free throws with five second on the clock.
That’s when Losing sought a timeout and called the play he felt could give Crofton a shot at a tie or win ... “get the ball to Amber.”
Hegge did a little dipsy-doodle away from her defender and took the pass from Jons, and , well, as the pundits are wont to say ... the rest is history.
For a mili-second, the entire Devaney Center crowd was in stunned silence, and then the Crofton side went crazy, led by Losing who leaped his way onto the court. After a couple celebratory hops, Hegge was taken down and buried by exhilarated teammate.
The Norfolk Catholic players stood in stunned silence before the realization kicked in that they’d fallen once again in the finals and the tears began to flow.
“It’s always awesome to play them,” noted Losing. “It always comes down to key plays at the end of the game, missed free throws, made free throws ...”
“We’re as evenly matched as teams can get,” Hegge chimed in.
Seniors Tierney Schumacher and Hegge were named to the C1 all-tournament team, along with Catholic’s Kayla Uhing and Brungardt, plus Fairbury’s Steph Ebke. Brungardt led the C1 scoring chart with 65 points in her three games, followed by Hegge with 49, Uhing with 45 and Schumacher with 39. Jones was in the top ten with her 31 counters.

Crofton .............................. 12 22 37 47
Norfolk Catholic ................ 9 20 33 46
Scoring Nicole Van heek 3, Caitlin Jones 11, Morgan Wilken 1, Tierney Schumacher 9, Amber Hegge 16, Tara Harmelink 3, Molly Van Heek 4. FG C: 14/39 35.9%, NC: 16/42 38.1%. FT C: 16/21, NC: 12/20. Rebounds C 31, NC 26 (C: N. Van Heek 2, Jones 6, Wilken 8, Schumacher 1, Hegge 9, Harmelink 1, Bridgette Lancaster 1, M. Van Heek 1 [Team: 2]). Assists Hegge 4, Lancaster 1. Turnovers 17. Blocks Hegge 3, Wilken 3. Steals N. Van Heek 1, Wilken 1, Hegge 1, Harmelink 1, Lancaster 1, M. Van Heek 1.

The Lady Warriors opened the tourney by routing 19-2 Bridgeport, 61-47 Thursday evening. They had a small crowd of supporters, because the bad weather back home in the Crofton area forced many to postpone or even cancel treks to the Capitol City for tournament festivities.
Hegge got the Lady Warriors off to a quick start by scoring the team’s first six points as Crofton opened a 13-9 first period lead. The Lady Warriors’ trapping press gave the Bulldogs all kinds of problems.
“We were pretty sure we could use our size to get them trapped, and it gave them trouble right away,” said Losing.
Crofton fattened its lead, posting a 31-15 margin at halftime.
But the ’Dogs began to figure out the CHS trapping defense, and pared Crofton’s 16-point lead to 42-33 with 1:36 to play in the third period. But that was as close as things got as the Lady Warriors, who found success at the charity stripe throughout the tourney, netted 19 of 22 free throws in the fourth period to keep Bridgeport at bay and secure the win.
A balanced scoring attack that saw four players in double figures, prompted Losing to observe, “This has been the way we’ve played all year. We get good contributions from five to seven individuals. Our team unity is really good.”
“No one tries to be the star of the show, they just go out and do what the team needs,” he added.
Losing said that in spite of the big halftime lead, he urged his girls to come out focused in the second half, stating, “It’s so unpredictable at state. “But Amber started the game well, and that gave us confidence right away, and it carried through the game.”

Bridgeport ........................ 9 15 33 47
Crofton ............................ 13 31 45 61
Scoring Tierney Schumacher 12, Nicole Van Heek 3, Amber Hegge 14, Kristen Steffen 2, Caitlin Jones 14, Molly Van Heek 5, Bridgette Lancaster 1, Morgan Wilken 10. FG C: 14/29 48.2%, B: 14/40 35%. FT C: 31/40, B: 17/28. Rebounds C: 28, B: 20 (C: Tara Harmelink 1, Schumacher 1, N. Van Heek 3, Maddy Larson 1, Hegge 13, Jones 4, Lancaster 1, Wilken 4). Assists Harmelink 4, N. Van Heek 3, Hegge 4, Jones 1, M. Van Heek 2. Blocks N. Van Heek 1, M. Van Heek 1, Wilken 2. Steals Katie Sage 1, N. Van Heek 2, Jones 1, M. Van Heek 1, Wilken 2. Turnovers 24.

That first round victory sent the Lady Warriors into a 9 pm matchup on Friday night with the Twin River Titans, who came into the game 21-2 and had pulled a surprising first round win over undefeated (23-0) Fort Calhoun, the team Crofton beat a year ago for the state title.
The Lady Warriors got off to a quick start, with three-point plays from Molly Van Heek and Hegge to jump out to a 14-5 lead. The Titans scored the quarter’s final four points and the first stanza score stood CHS 14, TR 9.
After Twin River cut the margin to 14-11 to open the second frame, the Lady Warriors went on a 14-4 run that sent them into the locker room with a 29-14 halftime lead.
Again, the tenacious defense of the Lady Warriors forced the Titans to implode before they could take off as Twin River had 14 turnovers in the first half.
Crofton opened the second half with another run, and pushed their lead to 41-19 in the first four minutes of the third period. Twin River did cut the gap to 43-27 with 1:30 in the stanza before riding things out to a 47-29 Crofton third period lead.
Schumacher got CHS off to a fine start in the final stanza as she was golden on a 3-pointer and then a layup off a steal to put Crofton on top 53-29 in the first minute of play. The Titans would never get closer than 18 the rest of the game, falling 60-40.
“This was a very steady, workmanlike effort of defense,” stated Losing. “We took them out of their game right away, and our trap gave us lots of offensive opportunities.”
When queried if the CHS bunch was looking ahead to a title match with Norfolk Catholic, Losing answered, “We didn’t play like we were looking ahead. We just wanted to get things done.”
The Crofton coach said he had noted the key points to the contest: create lots of (Twin River) turnovers and win the rebound battle. “We did a real good job of meeting those goals,” he quipped. Crofton, hit 11 of 13 charities in the second half and forced the Titans into 23 miscues in the game.

Twin River ......................... 9 15 29 40
Crofton .............................. 14 29 47 60
Scoring Tara Harmelink 2, Tierney Schumacher 18, Nicole Van Heek 2, Amber Hegge 19, Bridgette Lancaster 2, Caitlin Jones 6, Molly Van Heek 7, Morgan Wilken 4. FG C: 24/46 52.1%, TR: 12/37 32.4%. FT C: 10/16, TR: 16/19. Rebounds C 23, TR 17 (C: Harmelink 1, Schumacher 4, Hegge 3, Lancaster 1, Jones 2, M. Van Heek 2, Wilken 1). Assists Harmelink 1, Schumacher 4, N. Van Heek 4, Hegge 3, Lancaster 1, Jones 2, M. Van Heek 2, Wilken 1. Blocks Katie Sage 1, Hegge 3, M. Van Heek 1, Breanna Wendte 1, Wilken 1. Steals Schumacher 4, N. Van Heek 2, Hegge 4, Kristen Steffen 1, Lancaster 1, Jones 1, Wendte 1. Turnovers 19.