LINCOLN — The present and future faces of Omaha Central basketball had their coach smiling Saturday night after the Eagles reclaimed the Class A state championship.

Deverell Biggs, the senior, had 19 points and four assists in the Eagles' 71-58 victory over No. 1 Norfolk in the title game at the Devaney Center.

Akoy Agau, the freshman, had 18 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocked shots.

“They sat together on the bus last night, and I overheard Deverell talking to him about what it means to be in this game,'' Central coach Eric Behrens said. “Akoy got down on himself a little bit last night after a couple mistakes, but (Biggs) said to play through it.''

Central (23-4) has won four of the past five Class A titles. Biggs played on three of the championship teams.

“This is so much better,’’ Biggs said. “I played with Josh Jones, Ronnell Grixby, all those great guys. People said you need to win your own, and I’m so happy to get my own.’’

Akoy’s defensive presence as a 6-foot-7 post player dealt the Panthers fits.

“He really changed the game. Our guys got a little shy going in there and made us totally perimeter-oriented,’’ Norfolk coach Ben Ries said. “They could then lock up on our perimeter, and we couldn’t get anything going.’’

Class A’s best 3-point shooter this season, Norfolk sophomore Jalen Bradley, made four 3s in the first half to break the Class A record for 3s in a tournament (12). But he was only 1 of 3 in the second half as Sean McGary and Jake Fuhs guarded him.

“We came into the locker room at half,’’ Biggs said, “and said we had to play defense and rebound.

“Norfolk is so good right now. They have a team that will win in the future.’’

Central led 33-29 at halftime. And Biggs had much more help than in the 53-52 semifinal win over Lincoln Southeast.
McGary had nine of his 16 points in the first half, and Josh Hackett finished with 10. Every Central starter but Dominique McKenzie (four points, seven rebounds) ended the game scoring in double digits.

“(Friday) we got down and Deverell got on the attack and he got hot, so we were like, ‘whoa, bring it upcourt and score if that’s what we needed to do,’” Behrens said. “Tonight, we needed to do some other things, and he found guys.’’

Central opened the second half with a 9-1 run for a 42-30 lead and took a nine-point lead into the final quarter.

Norfolk, bidding for its second state championship in its first finals appearance since 1987, got as close as 49-45 on two free throws from Brady Lollman, who had a game-high 21 points. But baskets by Hackett and Biggs and a three-point play by Hackett, a 6-3 senior, gave the Eagles a 56-45 cushion with five minutes left.

Norfolk whittled it down to six points twice, 60-54 and 62-56, before Biggs passed to Agau for a dunk with 1:42 left that started a 9-2 finish for the champions.

“We knew we had all the ability to win it, but we didn’t come together at first,’’ Agau said. “We’re losing five seniors, but with the juniors and sophomores coming back we know we have to work hard and get better for next year.’’

Omaha Central (23-4)...........................17 16 14 24—71
Norfolk (22-3)....................................15 14 9 20­—58
• C: Akoy Agau 7-13 4-6 18, Josh Hackett 4-7 1-2 10, Dominique McKenzie 2-4 0-0 4, Sean McGary 5-8 5-10 16, Deverell Biggs 8-21 2-6 19, Michael Welch 0-0 0-0 0, Darian Barrientos-Jackson1-3 2-2 4, Corey Kline 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Fuhs 0-0 0-2 0, Eddie Vinson 0-0 0-0 0, Paulino Gomez 0-0 0-0 0, Deshun Roberts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 14-28 71.
• N: Nathan Marsh 3-10 3-9 9, Tanner Lancaster 1-3 0-0 2, Jalen Bradley 7-15 5-9 19, Jonah Bradley 2-7 2-4 7, Brady Lollman 6-17 6-8 21, Jeremy Vogel 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Elliot Koerting 0-0 0-0 0, Jarvis Green-Smoot 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Starkel 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Gesell 0-1 0-2 0, Tyson McGill 0-0 0-0 00. Totals 19-55 11-23 58.
• 3-point goals: C 3-11 (Hackett 1-4, McGary 1-2, Biggs 1-4, Barrientos-Jackson 0-1), N 9-20 (Ja. Bradley 5-9, Jo. Bradley 1-4, Lollman 3-6). Total fouls: C 19, N 22. Fouled out: Marsh. Technicals: none. Turnovers: C 10, N 13. Rebounds: C 41 (Agau 15), N 37 (Marsh 14). Field-goal percentage: C .482, N .345. Free-throw percentage: C .500, N .478. Officials: Willie Beamon, Rich Buchman, Dave Egge.

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