Omaha World Herald wrote: NU recruit rings up 36, but Dotzler, T-birds win
Bellevue West 83, Archbishop O'Hara 70
Josh Dotzler and Marcus Walker eyeballed each other for the first time at the inaugural Omaha Shootout and came away impressed.
Dotzler, a Creighton recruit, had 14 points and 10 assists in Bellevue West's 83-70 win Saturday over Walker's Kansas City (Mo.) O'Hara team. But the future Husker scored 36 points, including 13 in a row for the Celtics before fouling out.
"He did a great job today, especially in the open court," Dotzler said. "Obviously, he's real quick and fast and hit some tough shots, too. I thought his attitude was good, too. I think Nebraska's lucky to get him."
Walker said Dotzler was "a real point guard."
"He didn't try to force that much. He passed to his teammates," Walker said. "They had a good team. They ran a lot, got a lot of fast-break points."
Wanting a first look at the pair's first face-off was a larger-than-expected turnout announced at 4,940 for the four-game showcase at Qwest Center Omaha. It pleased event organizer Keith Pickett, whose St. Louis Shootout draws upwards of 10,000 every year.
"Five years from now," O'Hara Coach Todd Magwire said, "Keith Pickett is going to have this like the one in St. Louis. It's going to be good for Nebraska basketball, for Iowa basketball."
In other Shootout games Saturday:
• Nebraska No. 7 Beatrice shot 68 percent from the field, and Ryan Moore scored 24 points in a 79-52 win over Omaha Skutt.
• Western Iowa No. 1 Sioux City East had four double-digit scorers, holding on for a 64-62 win over Class 3-A No. 2 Harlan.
• Dallas Lincoln got 19 points and 12 rebounds from Derrick Moore in a 66-64 win over Country Club Hills (Ill.) Hillcrest.
Top-ranked Bellevue West (18-1) never trailed Saturday in bouncing back from an 85-84 home loss Friday night to No. 2 Omaha Central.
"They are competitive kids, and it certainly didn't taste good what happened last night," Thunderbirds Coach Doug Woodard said. "But part of this in athletics is how you respond to adversity.
"The emotion was fine and the work ethic and all that, but our execution was brutal. It wasn't a whole lot better today in a lot of areas, but we have a little bit of time left to get that squared away."
The Thunderbirds buried O'Hara with 3-pointers - six in the first quarter, two in the second, as they led 46-30 at halftime. Jeff Martin went 6 for 7 from beyond the arc for a team-high 22 points.
Michael Jenkins had 20 points and Jake Meyer 16 for Bellevue West.
"When you have a team that hits six 3s right off the get-go on you, that's tough," Magwire said. "They are a good ballclub. They are a team. They have shooters on their team. We may have one outside shooter.
"That's a little bit of a deficit on our team, and everybody knows it. They're going to back off some people and they're going to key on Marcus, they're going to key on Brandon."
Brandon Toliver, a 6-foot-7 senior, didn't start because he turned an ankle during a game Friday night. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes.
West's largest lead, 71-49, came on a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter that featured back-to-back three-point plays by Meyer. Then Walker took over, bringing the Celtics back to within 73-62, until fouling out on his fourth charging call of the game.
"We were getting a little fatigued and gave up some shots and some layups," Dotzler said. "But he showed he can score a lot in a little amount of time."
Kansas City O'Hara (17-5)...................15 15 18 22-70
Bellevue West (18-1).....................28 18 15 22-83
At Qwest Center Omaha
• O: Shane Dennis 3-6 0-0 6, Marcus Walker 14-28 5-9 36, Adrian Jackson 0-3 1-2 1, Jake Ortiz 1-1 0-2 2, Mike Sanders 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Toliver 5-8 3-6 13, Jesse Thomas 0-3 0-1 0, Tokie Aromona 4-6 2-2 10, Marc Davis 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 28-60 11-22 70.
• BW: Jake Meyer 6-12 2-2 16, Josh Dotzler 5-11 2-2 14, Michael Jenkins 9-14 1-2 20, Jace Fredenburg 3-9 0-2 6, Jeff Martin 7-9 2-4 22, Jamal Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Howard 0-1 0-0 0, J.T. Fluellen 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Vandament 1-1 0-0 2, Antoine Young 1-3 0-2 3, Trey Lamont 0-0 0-0 0, Billy Delano 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 7-14 83.
• 3-point goals: O 3-11 (Dennis 0-2, Walker 3-9), BW 12-26 (Meyer 2-5, Dotzler 2-5, Jenkins 1-4, Fredenburg 0-2, Martin 6-7, Howard 0-1, Young 1-2). Total fouls: O 18, BW 21. Fouled out: Walker. Technicals: none. Turnovers: O 25, BW 16. Rebounds: O 44 (Davis 13), BW 32 (Martin 5). Field-goal percentage: O .467, BW .492. Free-throw percentage: O .500, BW .500. Officials: Aschoff, Podjenski, Easley.
Omaha Shootout draws 5,000
Moderators: Coyote, nebugeater, Brad, Omaha Cowboy, BRoss
Omaha Shootout draws 5,000
Kind of neat seeing Bellevue West beat up on a good KC team, after they battled Central just last night no less! ... and in front of 5,000 people on a Saturday morning. A great event for Omaha, and sounds like it'll be returning.
Omaha high schools 2-0 versus KC this season
Omaha World Herald wrote: Potter is key as Prep tops K.C. school
On the two occasions Saturday night when its game-long lead was down to a basket, Omaha Creighton Prep fed its go-to guy.
Zach Potter came through each time in the Junior Jays' 59-50 home victory over Kansas City Rockhurst.
The 6-foot-7 Nebraska football recruit made both of those key baskets as part of a 21-point second half and a 24-point game.
And he was playing through the effects of strep throat, which was diagnosed Thursday.
"It was a worry, but it would be a lot to take him out of a game," Prep Coach Josh Luedtke said. "We told him four or five weeks ago that he would have to do it for us. Others would have to step up, but we need him to carry us."
Potter had only three points and no rebounds at halftime, when Prep led 25-19.
"We had to get focused again," Luedtke said. "We hit some early 3s with other guys, but we had to get back to improving our spacing on offense. When we have spacing and ball reversal, we can get it easy to Zach."
An estimated 900 in Prep's Birdcage gym saw Nebraska's 10th-ranked team (12-6) defeat the No. 12 team in Missouri (15-6). Phillip Strozier, a 6-1 junior, led the Hawklets with 17 points.
Prep opened a 10-0 lead, with Rockhurst not scoring on its first 10 possessions. Joe Temme had three 3s in scoring all 11 of his points before halftime.
Rockhurst pulled within 30-28 in the third quarter and 37-35 in the fourth quarter, only to give up baskets to Potter on Prep's ensuing possessions. Potter went 6 of 7 and Richard Marion 7 of 8 at the line in the final period to seal the win.
Kansas City Rockhurst (15-6)................... 4 15 13 18-50
At Creighton Prep (12-6).........................15 10 11 23-59
• KCR: Strozier 17, Switzer 2, Farmar 4, Ward 4, Teahan 7, Capra 2, Edwards 3, Nagle 2, Potts 8, Jackson 1.
• CP: Marion 10, Temme 11, King 8, Potter 24, Burnham 3, Glassman 1, McCormick 2.