GICC's Statler threatens record in NCA all-star win

Alicia Statler had no idea that she had almost set a record at the Nebraska Coaches Association girls basketball all-star game.

Statler pulled down 12 rebounds for the Blue team -- just one rebound short of the Blue record of 13 held by Omaha Marian's Cristen Wuebben (1992), Lincoln Northeast's Missy Schomaker (1997) and West Point Central Catholic's Geri Heimann (2006).

Statler also blocked four shots, had three assists and scored five points to help the Blue team to a 91-61 victory over the Red Monday night at Lincoln North Star High School.

Statler said she was just doing what Grand Island Central Catholic coach Andy Anspauch had taught her to do.

"Our coach at Central focuses on rebounding so that I just kind of did it because that's what I've learned," Statler said.

The Blue team was led by Arapahoe's Cheryl Braithwait and Perkins County's Debi Johnson with 12 points each. Minden's LeaAnn Jameson had 11 and Millard West's Heather Pohl 10.

Minden's Rick Chramosta, who coached the Blue team, said his team had good balance.

"We had (Amber) Peterson and Johnson who were both good point guards," Chramosta said. "They were able to distribute the ball well. Our post players played well tonight. I think we probably out rebounded them. I haven't seen the stats, but Statler rebounded like a machine under there. She's long and strong."

Led by Statler, the Blue team outrebounded the Red 55-45 for the game. The Blue also had 20 assists for the night compared to nine for the Red team.

"I think they played well together," Chramosta said. "I don't think there's a secret to that. I just think they played well together. They seemed to be pretty fresh out there. We didn't overwork them for a couple of days and I think that helps."

Statler said the teamwork the Blue team showed came from good team chemistry.

"We played awesome together," Statler said. "We had good chemistry and we bonded really well so that was fun."

Statler, who will play basketball at Hastings College next year, said she has been working out this summer mostly alone by running and shooting baskets. She said the all-star game was great preparation for her first season at the college level.

"I definitely got back into shape that I wasn't in," Statler said. "We didn't run that much in practices, but we did enough that it got us there."

The team had two-a-day practices on Saturday and Sunday, then an hour practice Monday. Chramosta said he and assistant coach Linda Walker of Wahoo were sure the Blue team would be ready to play.

"There were a couple of practices where I wondered what we were doing, but coach Walker and I both thought when the lights came on they'd be ready to play and they really were," Chramosta said.

All in all, Statler said the game was a great experience.

"It was really fun," Statler said. "I didn't think it would be as much fun as it was, but our coaches were awesome and the girls were great."

Omaha Burke's Brittany Gunn led the Red team with 16 points while Overton's Eva Benson added 12 points. Cross County's Megan Allison had three points and eight rebounds for the Red team.


BLUE (91)
Amber Peterson (Elkhorn) 3-4 0-0 7, Cheryl Braithwait (Arapahoe) 3-3 5-612, Debi Johnson (Perkins County) 5-13 0-0 12, Autumn Boyer (South Sioux City) 4-10 0-0 8, Nicole Brungardt (Norfolk Catholic) 3-9 0-0 6, LeaAnn Jameson (Minden) 5-7 0-0 11, Angela Kuca (Lincoln Lutheran) 2-4 3-4 7, Megan Salcedo (Omaha Marian) 2-4 2-2 6, Kali Schnacker (HTRS) 3-7 1-2 7, Heather Pohl (Millard West) 4-15 2-2 10, Alicia Statler (Grand Island CC) 2-8 1-5 5. Totals 36-84 14-21 91.
RED (61)
Brittany Gunn (Omaha Burke) 5-9 3-3 16, Kilee Edson (Fairbury) 1-3 0-02, Katie Birkel (Lincoln Southeast) 2-11 1-6 5, Alexa Phipps (Lincoln Southeast) 0-20-0 0, Tessa Kreutzer (Holdrege) 2-8 2-3 7, Jordan Searcey (Lincoln Pius X) 0-5 1-2 1, Kristine Ortmeier (West Point CC) 0-1 1-2 1, Mia Gilreath (Omaha Burke) 2-8 2-2 6, Ashley Arp (Kearney) 0-1 0-2 0, Megan Allison (Cross County) 1-7 0-1 3, Eva Benson (Overton) 5-9 2-2 12, Morgan Wilken (Crofton) 3-4 2-28. Totals 21-68 14-25 61
Blue    22    22    22    25--91
Red      9    23    14    15-- 61
3-point goals--Blue 5-14 (Johnson 2-5, Braithwait 1-1, Peterson 1-2, Jameson 1-3, Boyer 0-1, Brungardt 0-2). Red 5-27 (Gunn 3-4, Allison 1-4, Kreutzer 1-5, Phipps 02, Gilreath 0-2, Birkel 0-6). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Blue 55 (Statler 12). Red 45 (Benson 11). Assists--Blue 16 (Statler 3, Brungardt 3). Red 9 (Edson 2, Phipps 2). Total fouls--Blue 20, Red 19. Technicals--None.


BOYS

Red 97, Blue 93

LINCOLN -- Creighton recruit Antoine Young (Bellevue West) and Indiana State recruit Koang Dolouny (Omaha Bryan) scored 21 points each to lead the Red to a win over the Blue.

But it may have been some defense by St. Edward's Shavontae Samuels that may have tipped things in favor of the Blue team.

Samuels came in late to guard Colorado State recruit Jesse Carr (Ainworth), who had four 3-pointers, including two in the fourth quarter.

Samuels said Red head coach Fred Kluck of Bruning-Davenport told him to stay on Carr.

"He just said don't let Jesse get the ball because he's the one shooting all the threes," Samuels said. "I couldn't let him get the ball there at the end. He was stroking it. He was hitting a lot of threes, him and that Waverly kid (Andrew Palmer). They were hot. We had to have somebody slow them down."

Palmer, who is headed for Nebraska Wesleyan, set an all-star record with six 3-pointers and scored 18 points while Carr finished with 24.

The Red team was down by 18 in the third quarter, but scored 15 in a row at one point and tied the game at 66-66 heading into the final quarter.

"We switched one of our bigs on the other side because they were killing us on the rebounds," Samuels said. "They had like three inches on our big man so we had to switch so we had one on each side of it."

Samuels scored four points with four rebounds, three steals and an assist. It was the fourth all-star game of the summer for Samuels.

"This one was great," Samuels said. "It was better than all of them, mostly because there was better talent and better teams."

Grand Island Senior High's Jory Crouch scored two points for the Red team.


BLUE (93)
Josh Riser (Lincoln High) 2-6 0-0 4, Kyle Obermeier (North Platte) 0-2 0-0 0, Josias Hueser (Papillion-LaVista South) 1-5 0-0 3, Andrew Palmer (Waverly) 6-10 0-0 18, Josh Jones (Omaha Central) 5-14 2-3 13, Jesse Carr (Ainsworth) 8-18 4-4 24, Kendal Bender (Humphrey St. Francis) 2-3 0-0 4, John Leverson (Crete) 4-6 1-2 10, Mitch Liberty (Falls City) 2-7 0-0 4, Garth Hamilton (Lincoln East) 0-6 0-2 0, Josh Lynch (Elkhorn) 4-7 1-2 9, Jake Reinders (Omaha Skutt) 4-7 1-2 9. Totals 36-88 8-13 93.
RED (97)
Nicke Schleich (Lincoln Southeast) 3-6 0-0 7, James Futch (Bellevue East) 3-4 4-4 13, Jeremy Wallace (Omaha Bryan) 2-3 2-2 7, Antoine Young (Bellevue West) 6-19 8-10 21, Shavontae Samuels (St. Edward) 1-9 2-4 4, Jory Crouch (Grand Island) 1-4 0-0 2, Jens Scholl (Deshler) 1-3 0-0 3, Mike Fox (Beatrice) 4-4 0-2 8, Zach Rosenboom (Oakland-Craig) 2-6 0-0 4, Porter Birtell (Lutheran High NE) 3-4 1-2 7, Koang Doluony (Omaha Bryan) 7-12 5-5 21. Totals 33-74 22-28 97.
Blue    29    25    12    27-- 93
Red     25    15    26    31-- 97
3-point goals--Blue 13-41 (Palmer 6-10, Carr 4-11, Levorson 1-1, Hueser 1-5, Jones 1-6, Hamilton 0-1, Obermeier 0-2, Riser 0-4). Red 9-24 (Futch 3-4, Doluony 2-4, Schleich 1-3, Scholls 1-2, Wallace 1-2, Young 1-5, Samuels 0-2, Crouch 0-2). Fouled out--Britell. Rebounds--Blue 48 (Liberty 8). Red 48 (Doluony 10). Assists--Blue 10 (Carr 3). Red 10 (Futch 4). Total fouls--Blue 17, Red 14. Technicals--None.