Ticket Punched! GICC Boys Down Mt Michael To Advance To State

Photo Credit: Josh Salmon

(Grand Island, NE) - The Central Catholic boys basketball team qualified for state for the 22nd time in school history on Monday night, defeating Elkhorn Mt Michael, 47-42. 

The Crusaders would have a first quarter lead of 14-9. GICC would get out to a 12-point lead at halftime, the largest lead of the game, 27-15. The Crusaders were able to get a Connor Haney layup with seconds remaining to take the Crusaders into the halftime break. 

GICC would force eight first-half turnovers for Mt Michael. The Knights had 12 in the game. GICC would have only one turnover in the first half and five total. 

Mt Michael would go on a 7-0 run to start the second half, but GICC would never give up the lead. The Crusaders would have a five-point advantage going into the fourth quarter, 34-29. The Knights cut it to two points, 34-32, with 7:26 left in the game. That was as close as Mt Michael would get. Both teams would score 13 points each in the fourth quarter. 

GICC was led by Braylon Wolfe with 22 points. Wolfe would have 12 points going into halftime. Connor Haney and Brandon Cloud would each chip in 7 points apiece. Jack Alberts would have 3 points. Thomas Birch and Isaac Urbanski would each have 4 points. 

Connor Sall led Mt Michael with 15 points. Jack Burke had 9 points. Miles Wewel had 8 points for the Knights. Mt Michael's season comes to an end with a record of 16-9. 

The Crusaders at 22-5 will be making the trip to Lincoln for the first time since 2022. That season, the Crusaders lost in the C2 state championship to Humphrey Lindsey Holy Family, 43-42.  GICC will play on Thursday, March 12th at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. First-round games are at 9:00 am, 10:45 am, 1:30 pm, and 3:15 pm. Listen for coverage on KRGI 1430/105.5 & krgi.com. 

Class C1 District Final Scores

Lincoln Christian 65, Bridgeport 55 
Ashland Greenwood 71, Adams Central 26 
Ogallala 90, Columbus Lakeview 32 
Gothenburg 52, Doniphan Trumbull 48 
Syracuse 60, Cozad 53 
Auburn 50, Concordia 44 
GICC 47, Mt Michael 42