Class A: Omaha Central wins title again

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Saturday's Class A results:

Championship: Omaha Central 59, Bellevue East 58

The Eagles knocked off Bellevue East behind 21 points from Joshua Jones and 14 from Christopher Griffin.

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Omaha Central's Joshua Jones is fouled by Bellevue East's John Bryan (5) during the Class A championship. (Heidi Hoffman)

Omaha Central's Joshua Jones is fouled by Bellevue East's John Bryan (5) during the Class A championship. (Heidi Hoffman)

Bellevue East was led by Jarrell Crayton's 26 points.

Third place: Bellevue West 78, Lincoln High 77

Many people might not be fans of the newly-added state basketball tournament third-place games, but Bellevue West’s Derek Bryant sure is.

The 5-foot-7 senior guard rarely saw extensive action during  regular season and scored just 13 points all year.

Bryant got to play throughout the game Saturday and nearly matched his season point total  in the Thunderbirds’ 78-77 win against Lincoln High.

Although he wished his team could be playing for the state title at the Devaney Sports Center, Bryant, who finished with 10 points, said it was great to play with his fellow seniors one last time.

"Coach (Doug Woodard) just told us to go out here and have fun,” Bryant said. “I mean, it is the last game together for us as seniors. He said to play a little bit of defense, though, but we didn't do that much, but we had fun."

The Links and Thunderbolts had no trouble scoring baskets and put on a show at Pershing Center.

Nine different Lincoln High players scored, while 11 did for Bellevue West.

Seven different players scored for the Links  in the second quarter. Lincoln High’s 29 points in the period gave it a 45-44 halftime lead. 

Lincoln High coach Russ Uhing said it was good to see underclassmen get an opportunity to play a lot of minutes.

The Links entered the final period with a five-point lead, but the Bellevue West seniors regained  the lead midway through the fourth quarter, and the Links couldn’t get it back late in the game.

Although Uhing was pleased with his team’s effort, he said he wouldn’t mind seeing the third-place game dropped next year.

"I wouldn't,” Uhing said. “It's very difficult. When you get into the state tournament, your goal is to get to the finals. The emotions are very different in this (consolation game) than they are in a normal one.”

--Tommy Dahlk

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