Reports from Lincoln say attendance wasn't great for the six girls third-place games Saturday at Pershing Auditorium. It can be difficult for fans to get up for a game the day after your state championship hopes have been shattered.

There were winners. Millard West, Lincoln Pius X, Crofton, West Point Central Catholic, Humphrey and Falls City Sacred Heart all got to finish their seasons on a positive note after losing on Friday.

But there were double losers, too. Kearney, Elkhorn, Minden, Cambridge, Arapahoe and Chambers all ended great seasons with two straight setbacks.

Now the boys take center stage this week. Eight area teams are headed for state Hastings St. Cecilia, Ravenna, Grand Island Central Catholic, Heartland High, Kenesaw, Palmer, St. Edward and Hampton.

Just like the girls, there will be six more teams that end their seasons with a win and six that suffer those back-to-back losses.

Not one single team will go to Lincoln this week hoping to play in a consolation game. Every team there is looking for a chance at a state championship.

"When you're going down there you're trying to put yourself in a position to win on Saturday," Grand Island Central Catholic coach Bill Gavers said. "I think every team will tell you that. It's really hard to speculate. If you're in that situation, then you'll know definitely how you feel, but no one is going down there thinking, 'Gee, I want to be in that game.'

"Yet it can be a positive thing because it allows two teams (per class) to walk away on a winning note. Usually only one team goes home with a win. In this case, if you win the third-place game you go home with a win."

Palmer coach Matt Koehler said he's heard many negative comments about the consolation game and how it will be hard to get players up to play.

"I don't buy that," Koehler said. "Kids are so competitive. They get in a game and they want to win. They don't care if it's for third place or fifth place or whatever.

"If you're there anyway, you might as well get another game in."

St. Edward coach Aaron Martin, who guided the Beavers to the Class D-2 state title last year, is on the other side of the argument.

"I think it's going to be tough for a team, or maybe tough as a coach," Martin said. "It may be hard to get a team motivated after going so far, losing in the state semifinals and then playing another game.

"I don't know how much that third-place game will mean to the kids. Maybe it will mean a lot. I don't know."

Each team might react differently to a loss in the semifinals. An unbeaten No. 1-ranked team expecting to win a championship will probably feel differently than an eight-seeded team that's just happy to be there.

If an eighth seed beats a top seed on Thursday, then loses on Friday, it would seem that team would still be happy to be playing on Saturday.

But then again St. Edward is a very strong eighth seed in Class D-2 and a program that won a state title a year ago. It's easy to understand how a consolation game would be a disappointment for the Beavers.

However, Gavers said a consolation game just might show the character of your team.

"Really, I think it's a pride game," Gavers said. "If you get beat in the semis, it really makes a statement about your program and your players, about how they bounce back, how resilient and how much pride they have."

Ravenna coach Paul Beranek, who will be taking his top-ranked team to state looking for the program's second state title in four seasons, isn't sold on the idea of consolation games.

"I guess if you're playing in it, it might be OK," said Beranek, who obviously doesn't want to be playing in a consolation game on Saturday. "I think at the state tournament the last team standing should be the only one that goes out a winner. Surrounding states have it. I look at it as another way to make a dollar.

"At this time of year you should be there to get to the championship."

Bob Hamar is assistant sports editor for The Independent.