The Plainview Pirates boys’ basketball team earned a trip to a district final with wins this past week over the Winside Wildcats and Wausa Vikings in the Class D1-6 Subdistrict tournament held in Plainview.
The squad earned a dominating 72-42 victory over the Wildcats on Tuesday, Feb. 20, before edging out the Wausa Vikings on Thursday, Feb. 22 by a final score of 54-50 to take home the Class D1-6 Subdistrict Championship and keep their season alive.
With these victories, the Pirates earned the right to play in the Class D1-8 District Final as the nine seed against the eight-seeded South Loup Bobcats in Callaway on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 6:00 p.m. If the Pirates defeat the Bobcats on Tuesday, they’ll advance to the NSAA Boys State Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2006, where the Pirates took home fourth place.
In their most recent matchup of the week, the Pirates hosted the Wausa Vikings in the Class D1-6 Subdistrict Championship. These two teams had met once earlier in the season, in the second game of the year for the two teams on Dec. 1 of 2023. In that matchup the Pirates handled the Vikings with ease, earning a 58-43 victory. This time around, however, would not be as easy for the Pirates.
Both teams threw haymakers from the start as they found a great groove offensively. In the first quarter the Pirates were able to hit four three-pointers on their way to a 16-point performance. This gave Plainview a slim 16-14 lead after one.
In the second quarter, Plainview was able to keep up their offensive intensity, but this time from inside the three-point line. The Pirates were able to get to the charity-stripe nine times and converted on eight of them to grow their lead and head into halftime up 34-28.
In the third quarter, struggles had found the Pirates. Shots refused to fall, and the Vikings took advantage. Wausa stepped up defensively to hold the Pirates to just five points in the entire quarter. With their lowest-scoring quarter of the game, the Pirates lead had vanished. Just like that, the Vikings had tied it up 39-39 heading into the fourth.
Luckily for the Pirates, the squad was able to put their midgame struggles behind them quickly. Plainview once again found their groove on offense, putting up an impressive 15 points with their season on the line, while their defense held the Vikings to 11 to close out the game and earn the Pirates a trip to the district championship with a 54-50 victory.
Kohen Lingenfelter led the way for the Pirates with a 17-pont performance. Closely behind Lingenfelter was the duo of Karter Lingenfelter and Spencer Hille each with 12, Brendan Weber with eight, Wyatt Schroth and Corben Kment each with two, and Harrison Thor with one point to help secure the Pirates’ Subdistrict Tournament Championship.
Prior to their Subdistrict Championship game win, the Pirates started their postseason off hot with a dominating 30-point victory over the Winside Wildcats on Tuesday, Feb. 20 in the first round of the Class D1-6 Subdistrict tournament. With the Pirates being the oneseed in the tournament and the Wildcats entering the game with just nine wins on the season, the Pirates were the clear favorite on paper, but the Wildcats came to play in the first half.
The Pirates played solidly in the first quarter. With good shot selection and solid defense, Plainview was able to build up a 15-10 lead by the end of the first.
The second quarter was very similar. Both teams continued to play solid offensively, and neither defense could quite figure out how to get a series of stops. Fortunately for the Pirates, they were able to answer every basket made by the Wildcats, and then some, to grow their lead by four heading into halftime. At the half, the Pirates led the Wildcats 31-22.
After getting time to rest at halftime, the Pirates decided that they were tired of this closely-contested game. The offense for Plainview exploded in the third quarter. Karter Lingenfelter hit three three-pointers, Hille dropped eight points, and Kohen Lingenfelter went a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. These impressive statistics
combined to help the Pirates put up 29 points in the third quarter to expand their lead by 19.With a 60-32 lead, the Pirates had the game on ice going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, the Pirates simply finished what they started in the third. With a 28 point lead, the Pirates slowed down the tempo of the game to cruise to a 72-42 victory to keep their season alive and advance to the Class D1-6 Subdistrict Championship.
Karter Lingenfelter led the squad with 20 points, followed by Hille with 18, Weber with 10, Kohen Lingenfelter with eight, Schroth with six, Thor with five, Kment with three, and Jacson King with two.
Spencer Hille