Cedar girls finish in fourth place
LINCOLN — Thursday was payback time for Weeping Water.
The Indians came into last year’s State Tournament as the top seed and the team to beat. Eighth seeded Cedar Catholic did just that as the Lady Trojans hung a 54-49 setback on Weeping Water to send them packing.
This year, the Lady Trojans found themselves on the short end of a thrilling 51-50 overtime decision in the Class D1 semifinals against Weeping Water.
Weeping Water went on to score another onepoint win to defeat Pleasanton in Saturday’s State title game, while Cedar went to the third-place game, ultimately finishing fourth with a 19-9 overall record.
It was a season of pandemics and winning streaks and plenty in between, but nothing can take away the memory for the Cedar Catholic girls and coach Craig Wortmann.
“I thought we played well in all three games,” Wortmann said of his team’s newest trip to Lincoln. “We focused through the first game and kept pressure on South Platte to win that game. Weeping Water was a battle for the girls. They continued to push back every time that Weeping Water pushed ahead.”
Weeping Water was able to dominate the boards, and they hit their shots when it counted to earn the win.
“We had a few issues with rebounds late during free throws,” Wortmann said. “It was a game that the details made the difference for both teams. But both teams played well enough to win we just were not that team.”
The Lady Trojans dispatched South Platte, 46-37, in the opener to tip things off and did so behind a steady offense that would not allow South Platte to keep up. Add in the Cedar defense that carried the team all year and the win was a foregone conclusion.
Then ultimately, the eventual champions had just enough to rally in the fourth quarter to win and deny Cedar a chance to play for the big prize.
Cedar suffered a 40-31 defeat in the consolation game to Bergan. It was the second year in a row the Lady Knights defeated Cedar at State. Last year the Green Machine topped the Lady Trojans in the semifinals.
After Thursday’s emotional loss, the Cedar girls had to try and rebound for their final game of the season.
“The girls battled with Bergan,” Wortmann said. “It is always difficult to get going or keep it going in the third-place game. I thought they played their hearts out against Weeping Water and struggled to keep it going after that. Overall, I am very proud of them and how they played all season long.”
So, now as he loses a core group of seniors spearheaded by Brynn Wortmann, Brooklyn Kuehn and Megan Heimes, it’s about planning for the next chapter.
“We have a number of girls coming back and getting Makenna Noecker healthy and ready for next year will be a big part of that,” Wortmann said. “We will need our freshman and sophomores to develop this summer, but I like what we have and feel they can fill the roles that our seniors are leaving. The seniors were an excellent group that will be missed as players and people.”
They were an easy group to coach because they always showed up to play. We will miss them dearly.”
Senior point guard Heimes said she has taken the time since the tournament ending to take inventory and remember her times on the court during her four years.
“I’m just smiling,” she said. “It’s been a really fun season and I think every day we came in and we worked hard. We had that goal of state on our minds and our coaches set out great game plans and drills to better ourselves and our skills. We worked well together and worked hard together.
“We made memories along the way and had fun playing the game we love. So, it was good.”
Heimes said she and the girls were aware of the threat Weeping Water posed and that last year’s upset would potentially drive them to beat the Lady Trojans.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Heimes said. “We knew they were coming for blood almost. We both were going to give it our all and it was a fun, overtime game.
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