Warriors lead all-MAC boys' postseason awards

Leyton High School’s boys basketball team ‑— which went unbeaten in the league for the second season in a row and finished fourth at the Class D2 state tournament — led the way with two selections on the all-Minuteman Activities Conference postseason team.

Potter-Dix’s and Creek Valley’s girls’ squads both had two first-team MAC picks.

WARRIORS HAVE TWO

PICKED FIRST-TEAM

Senior Sam Schumacher and junior Dylan Brenner were tabbed as first-team members, along with Bryant Knigge of Potter-Dix, Creek Valley senior Sam Behrends and Minatare sophomore Javier Guerrero.

Schumacher, a four-year starter, scored 1,104 points during his final three seasons, and his freshman statistics were not available. Schumacher averaged 15.3 points and was the Warriors’ second-leading scorer.

Schumacher grabbed 4.9 rebounds a game, managed 2.7 steals and handed out 2 assists per game. As a junior, Schumacher averaged 18.2 points.

Without question, Brenner, a junior, was a main cog in LHS’s postseason return to the Elite Eight. Brenner knocked down two huge 3-pointers in the District finals triple-overtime win against Sandhills/Thedford, finishing with 21 points, then averaged 22 points a game at the state tournament, scoring 26 points in a semifinals loss to Spalding/Spalding Academy and then finishing with 27 against Falls City Sacred Heart in the third-place contest.

With 775 career points, Brenner should crack the 1,000-point mark next season.

Bryant Knigge turned into a scoring machine in the postseason for the Potter-Dix Coyotes, who advanced to the D1-6 District finals and was a Subdistrict winner at Sidney. Knigge scored 29 points against Minatare in the sub semifinals, then added 17 more as P-D beat Crawford in the finals. He averaged 20 points at the Sidney sub.

Behrends joins Schumacher as the only seniors on the postseason club.

Behrends, who often displayed the knack for drilling long-range 3-point shots, averaged 15.9 points for Creek Valley’s Storm. He handed out 2.1 assists a game, grabbed 9.3 rebounds, and picked up 2.1 steals a game.

Minatare’s Guerrero, a sophomore, put up some impressive numbers for the young 12-7 Indians. Guerrero averaged 13.7 points, made 68 percent of his foul shots, made 45 3-point shots and snagged 1.5 steals an outing.

Named to the second team were Leyton’s Brennen Cruise, Luke Cavalli of Creek Valley, Potter-Dix’s Luke Johnson, and Banner County’s duo of Tyson Dahlgrin and Ben Hostetler.

Third team selections included Creek’s Lane Godfrey, Brad Coyne and Jessie Bleidt of Garden County, South Platte’s Kris Kopetzky and Minatare freshman Yovan Perez.

COYOTES’/STORM DUOS LEAD GIRLS’ SELECTIONS

Senior Conner Wolff and junior Taylor Juelfs were Potter-Dix’s two first-team MAC girls selections.

Wolff wrapped up her P-D career with a 14.2-point average, and leading Jeff Einspahr’s team in scoring. She also hauled in 7.9 rebounds a game.

Juelfs was the team’s second-leading scorer at 6.7 points.

Juelfs averaged 1.2 steals and 1.8 rebounds, and was a defensive stopper for the Coyotes.

Creek Valley, which won the MAC tournament in January, was represented by junior guards Summer Mueller and Jerry Straber.

Mueller and Straber created headaches for opposing teams with their ability to make numerous steals.

Mueller racked up 15.4 points a game, and shot 46 percent from the floor. Mueller snagged 5.6 rebounds a game, dished out 2.1 assists and generated 4.2 steals a contest.

Straber had a 9.7 average, and handed out 3.5 assists to making 4.9 steals per game.

Leyton senior Rachael Ernest rounded out the first team.

Ernest was a force at both ends, averaging 8.1 points and 10.1 rebounds for Rol Rushman’s Warriors. Ernest made 70 percent of her free-throw attempts, averaged 2.1 assists and had 2.9 steals an outing,

Second-team picks included Leyton’s Tessa Lukesh, Garden County’s Bailey Davis and Teleen Sullivan, Lindsey Kotschwar of South Platte and Amanda Harrison of Banner County.

Leyton’s Katy Ernest, Creek’s Madison Blackwelder and P-D’s Amanda Maas led the local choices on the third team, along with Stephanie McClung of South Platte and Minatare’s Angelica Longoria.