Hoops Mania draws record number of teams

Last weekend's 17th annual Hoops Mania drew a record 236 teams from five different states to Grand Island to compete in the youth basketball tournament.

A listing of all tournament games is available on the Web at www.hoopsmania.com. The winners in each bracket are listed below.

Hoops Mania Champions

BOYS

Fourth Grade

Bracket A, Wood River; Bracket B, Aurora Huskies.

Fifth Grade

Bracket A, Omaha Renegades; Bracket B, Boone Central; Bracket C Beatrice Ballers; Bracket D, Fairbury Fifth.

Sixth Grade

Bracket A, Omaha Orange Force I; Bracket B, Boys & Girls Club Jaguars; Bracket C, Omaha Trailblazers; Bracket D, Minden Hogan's; Bracket E, GINW Nuggets.

Seventh Grade

Bracket A, Norris Titans; Bracket B, Tagge Rutherford Fighting Elk; Bracket C, Twin River Rravens; Bracket D, Boone Central Cardinals; Bracket E, Shelton.

Eighth Grade

Bracket A, Norfolk Maroon; Bracket B, Hastings STC Hawks; Bracket C, Columbus; Bracket D, Humphrey Bulldogs; Bracket E, GINW Nuggets-Gold.

Ninth Grade

Bracket A, Quad City Ballerz (Salina, Kan.).

GIRLS

Fourth Grade

Bracket A, Omaha Trailblazers White.

Fifth Grade

Bracket A, Omaha Trailblazers Blue; Bracket B, G.I. Lightning White.

Sixth Grade

Bracket A, Fairbury Snaps; Bracket B, Sioux Falls, S.D., Rim Rockers; Bracket C, Wayne; Bracket D, Kearney Starz.

Seventh Grade

Bracket A, Kearney Cyclones; Bracket B, NW Kansas Stars; Bracket C, Omaha Trailblazers White; Bracket D, Wayne.

Eighth Grade

Bracket A, Omaha Yellow Force; Bracket B, Boone Central Lady Cardinals; Bracket C, Shelton Lady Dawgs; Bracket D, Omaha Rebels.

Ninth Grade

Bracket A, Boys & Girls Club of Omaha.

NGBA sets dates for all-star basketball tryouts

The Nebraska Girls Basketball Association will be conducting three preliminary tryouts for girls across the state for the summer all-star team sponsored by Pinnacle Banks.

Interested girls should attend one of the preliminary tryouts in order to be selected for the final tryout. Preliminary tryout dates are at noon on March 16 at Grand Island Senior High, 6 p.m. on March 18 at UNO Fieldhouse and 6 p.m. Monday on March 24 at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

The final tryout date is a noon on March 30 at Nebraska Wesleyan.

Registration forms are available from any high school basketball coach or by contacting Ken Cook at (402) 988-3665 or coachcook@alltel.net.

Coaches this summer for the Junior all-star team will be Linda Walker of Wahoo and Marty Plum of Omaha Skutt. The Senior all-star team will be coached by Tom Lee of Omaha Burke and Tim Kassmeier of Norfolk Catholic.

* GOLF

Tigers' Schafer commits to Hastings College

Hastings College head women's golf coach Jon Loetterle has announced the signing of Teri Schafer.

Schafer currently attends Hastings High School and plans to major in pre-health at Hastings College.

"Teri is an accomplished prep golfer and student of the game," Loetterle said. "Teri has had great high school coaching, having played for coach Jason Cafferty at HHS. She works very hard at improving all aspects of her skills and is diligent in the classroom as well.

"We have been able to follow Teri during her prep career and she is one of the most outgoing and friendly kids I've ever worked with. She would be a welcome addition to any school or program and we're glad she's chosen us."

Husker women head to Texas A&M for 'Mo' Morial

LINCOLN The Nebraska women's golf team competes in its second spring tournament when it travels to Bryan, Texas, for the Texas A&M "Mo" Morial Friday through Sunday at the Traditions Club.

The Huskers tee off at 8 a.m. on Friday with 18 holes scheduled for each of the three days.

The 15-team tournament field includes Big 12 foes Baylor, Iowa State, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M, along with some of the nation's best teams.

The Huskers, who opened the spring with a solid ninth-place showing in a loaded Central District Invitational field in Florida Feb. 18-19, will look for improvements across the board as the spring continues.

Nebraska fired the third-best round on the final day of competition in Florida and improved its score each round.

Grand Island sophomore JC Stevenson led the Huskers with a 12th-place finish at 227, while senior Elli Brown added a 28th-place showing (232). Fellow senior Allison Stewart added a 233 to finish 31st, while Kate White closed in 39th at 235.

Those four Huskers will occupy the top four spots in NU's lineup in Texas, and they will be joined by sophomore Charlotte Wendner. Redshirt freshman Sydney Sturdevant and junior Megan Place will also travel to the "Mo" Morial to compete as individuals.

* TENNIS

Hastings' Jank commits to Concordia University

SEWARD Concordia tennis coach Amy Harms announced that Jeremy Jank of Hastings has committed to play for the Bulldogs.

Jank, a senior at Hastings Senior High School, amassed multiple awards throughout his career. Honors include being a four-time Nebraska class B state tournament participant, a two-time first team all-state selection, a doubles team player on the 2006 Class B No. 1 doubles state champion, and a doubles team player on the 2007 third-place team in the state for Class B.

"Jeremy has proven himself to be a successful student and tennis player," Harms said. "He is the kind of student-athlete that every coach wants. I'm very glad that he decided Concordia is the place for him to continue his career. I am excited for Jeremy and his family to be a part of our tennis program at Concordia."

Jank will join a Bulldog tennis team that finished second in the GPAC last season.

Concordia's athletic teams are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC).

* POWERLIFTING

High school powerlifting championships on tap

Doniphan-Trumbull will again play host to the Class C Nebraska High School Powerlifting Championships with competition starting at 8 a.m. on March 15.

Grand Island Central Catholic is the defending Class C girls state champion. Centura is the defending boys champion in Class C.

This marks the 36th year that high school lifters from across the state have competed for honors in the three powerlifts of squat, bench press and deadlift. More than 100 boys and girls athletes are expected to participate at each of the four state tournament sites for the best total score in 10 different weight classes.

This Class A championships will be this Saturday at Omaha South. Class B state powerlifting will be March 15 at Omaha Roncalli and the Class D state powerlifting meet will be March 29 at Stella. All of the competitions are scheduled to start at 8 a.m.