Two in a row for Crofton's senior standout
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star
Amber Hegge is known around Crofton for a lot of things — standout athlete, excellent student, good role model who enjoys being around younger kids and the girl who just took a full-time summer job at the putt golf/go-kart place in nearby Yankton, S.D.
But around Nebraska, the Lincoln Journal Star’s two-time Prep Girls Athlete of the Year will always be associated with just one thing — The Shot.
Hegge will be remembered forever in girls state basketball tournament history for the buzzer-beating, game-winning three-pointer she banked in from the top of the key. That high school career-ending basket gave Crofton a 47-46 win against Norfolk Catholic in the Class C-1 state championship game and secured the Warriors’ third straight state title.
Gabi Ailes
Bellevue West
Height - 5-8. Year - Senior.
College - Stanford, volleyball.
Volleyball - The Super-State captain’s all-around play helped Bellevue West go 43-1, win a fourth straight Class A title and finish No. 6 in the final national rankings..
Basketball - Guard played a key role in Bellevue West’s semifinal win over Lincoln Northeast.
Tennis - Ailes won the Class A No. 2 singles title, finished 26-2.
Ann Armes
Grand Island
Height - 6-0. Year - Senior.
College - Kentucky, volleyball.
Volleyball - First-team all-state outside hitter and second-team Super-Stater played a major role in Grand Island’s run to the Class A championship match.
Basketball - Helped Islanders reach the state tournament by averaging 11.2 points.
Track - Contributed to Grand Island’s Class A title by medalling in four events.
Megan Bober
Elmwood-Murdock
Height - 6-0. Year - Junior.
College - Creighton, volleyball.
Volleyball - Left-handed Bober made a big enough impression to earn Class C-2 all-state honors. The rightside/setter had 298 kills and 82 ace blocks to go with 262 assists.
Basketball - Bober was a C-2 first-team all-stater by averaging a double-double - 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds.
Track - Qualified for state in the 3,200 and high jump.
Nicole Brungardt
Norfolk Catholic
Height - 5-9. Year - Junior.
College - undecided.
Volleyball - First-team C-1 all-state outside hitter slammed 255 kills and added 45 ace blocks, 58 ace serves and 255 digs in helping the Knights reach the state semifinals.
Basketball - Earned first-team all-state honors by averaging 16.3 points per game as Norfolk Catholic reached the state finals.
Track - Won the Class B 200 and anchored Norfolk Catholic’s winning 400 relay at state.
Brooke Delano
Bellevue West
Height - 6-4. Year - Senior.
College - Nebraska, volleyball.
Volleyball - Developed into the go-to attacker for the four-time state champion Thunderbirds. Delano had 487 kills and 107 ace blocks.
Basketball - Delano was a second-team Super-Stater. She averaged 11.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game for the state champs.
KK Houser
Lincoln Southeast
Height - 5-6. Year - Sophomore.
College - Undecided but has basketball offer from Iowa State.
Softball - Shortstop hit .312 with seven doubles, 12 stolen bases and 28 runs scored.
Basketball - Lightning-quick point guard was a first-team Class A all-stater and second-team Super-Stater after leading Southeast to the state semifinals.
Track - Won all-class Gold in the 100 high hurdles, moving into eighth on the state’s all-time charts at :14.57. Part of Southeast’s state-record 1,600 relay at state.
Jasmine Johnson
Omaha Central
Height - 5-6. Year - Senior.
College - Houston, basketball.
Basketball - First-team Super-Stater was a tough match-up with speed to break down defenses and three-point shooting ability. Averaged 20.4 points and 3.1 assists.
Track - Captured all-class Gold in the 400 at :55.76, sixth on the state’s all-time charts. Also ran on Central’s 400 relay that was second in Class A and its 1,600 relay that took fourth.
Marissa Kastanek
Crete
Height - 5-9. Year - Sophomore.
College - Undecided but has offers in basketball from Drake, Kansas State, Creighton, Iowa and North Carolina State.
Basketball - Led Cardinals to a Class B runner-up finish and a 25-1 record. The shooting guard averaged 18.1 points, earning first-team all-state honors and a spot on second-team Super-State.
Track - Broke the tape in the Class B 800 in 2:21.56.
Kelsey Petersen
Kearney
Height - 6-0. Year - Junior.
College - Iowa State, volleyball.
Volleyball - Explosive, hard-hitting Petersen was a second-team Class A all-stater and third-team Super-Stater. Petersen, who can play both middle and outside hitter, unloaded 273 kills and put down 71 ace blocks.
Track - Won Class A high jump at 5-4 and finished fifth in the long jump (17-1).
Shelby Schultz
Cambridge
Height - 6-0. Year - Junior.
College - Undecided.
Volleyball - As one of the devastating attackers in the state, Schultz was a second-team Super-Stater and first-team D-1 all-stater after leading the Trojans to the state semifinals. Finished with 403 kills, while adding 108 ace blocks.
Basketball - Named second-team all-state, averaging as many rebounds as points (13.6).
Track - Qualified for state in the discus and won medals on Cambridge’s seventh-place 3,200 relay team and eighth-place 1,600 relay.
Jenny Svoboda
Howells
Height - 5-9. Year - Senior.
College - Kentucky, track.
Basketball - Earned first-team Class C-2 all-state honors by averaging 15.4 points and eight rebounds.
Track - Won fourth state title and second consecutive all-class Gold in the shot put at 46-11¼. Her top shot-put effort of 48-9½ is sixth this spring on the national charts. Also won the discus at 140-7.
Kelsey Woodard
Bellevue West
Height - 5-10. Year - Senior.
College - Creighton, basketball.
Volleyball - Four-year starter again played a role in Bellevue West’s fourth straight state title, earning second-team all-state honors by putting down 266 kills and 46 ace blocks. Had her best match of the season in the state finals against Grand Island with 19 kills.
Basketball - First-team Super-State guard propelled the Thunderbirds to the state crown by averaging 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals.
Hegge not only had to hit the off-balance, leaning shot against defensive pressure, the slender 6-foot-1 senior had to dribble through Norfolk Catholic defenders in the final five seconds just to get into position after taking an inbounds pass from the opposite baseline.
She’s watched the final play several times on tape and on the Internet and replayed it a thousand times more in her mind.
“It’s still kind of unbelievable,” Hegge said. “I have people come up to me all the time and say ‘You’re the girl who made that shot.’ It’s an unforgettable moment. I wish I could do it again.’’
Actually Hegge got a chance to re-enact it just a day later at the team’s welcome home ceremony in the Crofton gym in front of around 400 people. Despite wearing jeans, Hegge duplicated her path up court as close as she could as her teammates counted down on the sidelines “5-4-3-2-1.”
And there was Crofton head coach Aaron Losing, being as aggressive guarding Hegge as the Knights’ all-stater Nicole Brungardt was a day earlier.
It didn’t matter. This time, Hegge swished the three-pointer.
“I thought at first we were just joking around, but he was really playing defense. He tried to steal the ball, then jump up and block the shot,” Hegge recalled, laughing.
Immediately after the state finals, Losing’s comments to the media were basically that “it’s better to be lucky than good.
“I gave her a chance to prove me wrong, and sure enough, she made me eat my words,’’ Losing said. “She didn’t even need the backboard this time.’’
“The Shot’’ only further enhances one of the most extraordinary resumes compiled by a girls high school athlete in Nebraska.
In track, Hegge won four gold medals at the state meet two weeks ago, leading Crofton to its fourth straight Class C team title. Her victories in the 200-meter dash, high jump, long jump and triple jump brought her career track gold medal total to 12. Hegge is on the state’s all-time charts in three events — triple jump (fourth, 39-2¾), high jump (tied for ninth, 5-9) and long jump (tied for 10th, 19-½).
She finished this spring listed in six events in the state’s season charts — first in the long jump and high jump, second in the triple jump and 200, third in the 100 and ninth in the 400.
Hegge also attracted attention as a volleyball player last fall, even though it was only her third season in the sport. She was a second-team Class C-1 all-state middle blocker after putting down 293 kills, with an outstanding .524 hitting efficiency, and also registering 47 ace blocks for the 12-9 Warriors.
Hegge’s flexibility to play any position from point guard to center earned her NCAA Division I basketball scholarship offers from Nebraska and Drake. Hegge’s desire to do both basketball and track in college, however, led her to sign with South Dakota, which will go Division I in basketball in 2008.
“I’m not ready to give up either sport yet,’’ said Hegge, a straight-A student. She will major in business and be enrolled in the honors program at South Dakota.
“It will be tough balancing school with two sports. But I feel I have the potential to do better (in track) once it’s a full-time thing. I just don’t know how much better.”
Hegge led Crofton in almost every basketball statistical category. She averaged 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds, but also led the Warriors in assists, steals and blocked shots.
Crofton volleyball coach Susan Johnson said Hegge could play college volleyball if she chose to. Johnson said colleges, including Kansas, began calling about Hegge last fall. With an approach reach of more than 10 feet, that’s easy to understand.
“Colleges were calling about her a lot, and I’d tease her by asking ‘Do you want to play volleyball for them?’’’ Johnson said. “And her response was always ‘I don’t want to play volleyball.’”
Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.
Post Your Comment
Standards and RulesYour posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.