• Photo Showcase: Friday's semifinals

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LINCOLN — More than 20 minutes after it happened, Brady Lollman was still wide-eyed in amazement and smiling from ear to ear.

And who can blame him?

The Norfolk senior's bucket at the buzzer gave the top-ranked Panthers a 53-51 win over No. 3 Omaha Creighton Prep Friday night in the semifinals of the Class A state basketball tournament, ending an all-time classic in all-time classic fashion.

“Brady Lollman, I think, is the best player in the state,” Norfolk coach Ben Ries said. “He's definitely the toughest.”

Lollman's first points of the second half came in large part to a defensive play by teammate Jonah Bradley. With Prep stalling for the last shot in a tied game, Bradley came up with a steal and tipped the ball ahead to Lollman with around four seconds left. Lollman took a quick look at the clock, made a move to his left near the left wing and banked in the game-winner from just outside the left block.

“It felt good when it left my hand,” he said.

It put Norfolk into the final for the first time since 1987 — and only third time in school history — and at the same time knocked out the defending state champion.

“It's a tough way to go out,” Prep coach Josh Luedtke said, “but they're a great team.”

Early on it looked like Norfolk may turn it into a blowout. The Panthers knocked down five 3-pointers in the first 5-1/2 minutes. Sophomore guard Jalen Bradley had four of them. It was part of a 9 of 14 performance from long range in the first half.

“That's what they do,” Luedtke said. “That's what they do well. That's their game. We knew they were going to come out high and probably hot. We were just going to have to weather their storm.”

The fury finally subsided late in the first as Prep started a 17-0 run that lasted into the second quarter. Cole Martin had eight points in that stretch — and all but two of his team-high 15 in the first half - to turn it back into a game after the Junior Jays had fallen behind by 12.

Prep had to fight back again after Norfolk scored the first five of the second half to push their lead to eight. The Junior Jays went almost exclusively inside for their points the rest of the way. Buckets by 6-foot-6 forward Joe Trouba, who added 14 points for the Junior Jays, gave Prep a pair of leads just over two minutes into the fourth quarter. Trouba's last score was followed by a driving right-handed layup by fellow forward Nick Davis put push Prep out by three.

“It turned into a grind in the second half,” Ries said. “I thought our guys did a great job of battling and just being tough.”

Jalen Bradley's bucket with 3:35 to go was the last of the game for either team until Lollman's heroics. That cut the Prep lead to 51-50. Jonah Bradley, his brother, made the second of two free throws with a little more than 2 1/2 to go to tie it up. He finished with 12 points while younger brother Jalen had a game-high 20 - inlcuding six treys.

Luedtke said he decided to hold for the final shot in hopes for a look for senior guard Caleb Steffensmeier. The UNO recruit never got that shot as Jonah Bradley came up with a steal to start a play they'll talk about around Norfolk for quite some time.

“It would have been better if it was for a state championship,” Lollman said with a smile and his eyes still big. “But we'll take it.”

Om. Creighton Prep (21-4).......................14 20 8 9—51
Norfolk (22-2).................................19 18 8 8—53
• OCP: Joe Trouba 14, Eric Lee Donald 1, Caleb Steffensmeier 7, Nick Davis 8, Cole Martin 15, John Franco 2, Stephen Sudyka 4.
• N: Jalen Bradley 20, Jonah Bradley 12, Garrett Johnson 3, Nathan Marsh 10, Brady Lollman 8.

Contact the writer:

850-0781, nickrubek@hotmail.com

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