“He’s a funny kid. When he decides to play, he can play,’’ South coach Bruce Chubick said. “The first half, he just hung out. ‘What are you doing, Tahj, you got to play.’ I said you either have to start playing or we’re going to get beat.”

While South upheld Class A prestige, top-ranked Papillion-La Vista held its own but didn’t execute in the late going in a 50-49 loss to Sunrise Christian from Bel Aire, Kansas. It was the headliner of the eight-game session that drew 4,302 to Eihusen Arena at the Heartland Events Center.

South’s Glover figured in nearly every late-game key play, starting with his three-point play with 3:15 left for a 46-45 lead. South never trailed again.

At 2:06 left, his jumper from the free-throw line banked in for a 50-46 lead. He made two pairs of free throws to keep the lead at four with 19.5 seconds left.

Finally, with South nursing a 55-52 lead, he flashed to the basket on an inbounds play and Aguek Arop easily connected with him for the clinching points before the buzzer.

“They have a lot of athletes and we had to go man-to-man, and we’re not as solid against that team in man-to-man,” Aurora coach Tom Leininger said. “We put their best free-throw shooter on the line, and he hits four in a row and he’s an 88-percent shooter, so it wasn’t a surprise but they did a good job of getting him open.”

This game was a grinder, the way South (14-6) has to win. Its largest lead was 28-20 after scoring the first four points of the second half, but Aurora clawed back.

The Huskies (20-1) tied the game in the half for the first time at 35-35 on Henry Penner’s basket that ended third-quarter scoring. Then they led 40-35 and 43-39 before South tied the game on baskets by Glover and Arop.

Nebraska football recruit Austin Allen gave Aurora its final lead with the assist by sophomore Baylor Scheierman, who led the Huskies with 16 points.

Aurora was 2 of 22 on 3-pointers and shot only 24 percent on its two-point tries.

“Like I told the kids, I know we can’t shoot any worse,’’ Leininger said. “I thought we were fine all night because we hadn’t hit anything all night and thought it was going to come. It never did.”

Aurora (20-1) …………….. 10 10 15 17—52

Omaha South (14-6) …… 12 12 11 22—57

A: Baylor Scheierman 16, Henry Penner 13, Austin Allen 12, Kade Moural 5, Tommy Leininger 3, Zach Stevenson 3.

OS: Tahj Glover 21, Aguek Arop 11, Amauri Pesek-Hickson 8, Jordan DeLeon 7, Tristin Anderson 5, Tyreek Crawford 3, Ta’Vion Anderson 2.

Officials: Jim Langan, Doug Stevenson, Kurt Hinrichs.

Sunrise turns back Papillion-La Vista

Sunrise Christian, which had been nationally ranked early in the season, executed better than the Monarchs. Papio led 46-41 early in the final period on a jumper by Ayo Akinwole, who had 13 points, with 4:34 left.

A 3 by Malik Hall, a 6-6 sophomore from Chicago, that bounced in from off the near side of the rim, tied the game with 2:24 left.

Sunrise’s run eventually became 9-0 for a 50-46 lead. The Monarchs had three empty possession, one in which they missed a putback.

After Akinwole missed on a 10-footer with 28 seconds left, it took the Monarchs 14 seconds to commit their sixth foul of the half. Hall made two free throws after the next foul, then the Monarchs didn’t get off a quick shot. Peyton Priest made a 3 but it came with 1.1 seconds left.

Ed Chang had a game-high 18 points for Papio (18-4), which has a home game Friday against No. 2 Omaha Creighton Prep.

Sunrise Christian (Kan.) (19-4) …… 16 11 11 12—50

Papillion-La Vista (18-4) ………………. 14 16 12  7—49

SC: Isaih Jasey 11, Khaleem Bennett 10, Malik Hall 9, Marek Nelson 6, Isaih Bujdooso 6, N’Faly Dante 6, Carlos Paez 2.

PLV: Ed Chang 18, Ayo Akinwole 13, Peyton Priest 10, Isaac Hiebert 6, Jon Carter 2.

Officials: Jason Harstick, Chris Ladwig, Jeremy McHugh.

Winnebago speeds up Hawks

Keep Winnebago under 60.

Kevin Asher’s hope for Hastings St. Cecilia didn’t make it to the fourth quarter.

Winnebago led Class C-2’s top-ranked team 60-46 with eight minutes left and easily finished off a 76-61 win.

Asher said it started when Winnebago went on a second-quarter run and led 33-28 at the half.

“They got us sped up. Their defense has improved tremendous from the middle of the season with that pressure,’’ the St. Cecilia coach said. “We had some tough lineups in there at times because of substitutions and we really needed a three-guard lineup in there the whole time.

All-stater David Wingett didn’t have to do it by himself, either, for Class C-1 No. 7 Winnebago (22-2). While the 6-7 senior was getting 21 points, including two highlight dunks, the rest of the Indians’ starters each had 10 points or more. Cedrick Blackdeer had 14, all in the second half. Drake Gorrin had 13, D’Von LaPointe 12 and Manape Cleveland 11.

“We’re picking it up at the right time,’’ Winnebago coach Jeff Berridge said. “We have a lot of players on the court and if they’re hitting their shots and playing their roles we’re going to be tough to beat.”

He saw the Indians start slow on defense but they picked it up and picked up the pace, too.

Blackdeer scored 12 points in the third quarter, when St. Cecilia was 7 of 9 on field goals and still fell nine points further behind.

“I just told him he had to get back to his Omaha Central game. He played big in that game,’’ Berridge said, referencing Blackdeer’s 14 points when the Indians lost to the Metro Conference team 97-86 at Ralston Arena before Christmas.

“He’s one of our bigs on the court so they usually match up one of theirs with him and a lot of bigs just protect the paint. I told him to go out, find his shot and be a shooter.”

Hastings St. Cecilia (16-5) ……… 19  9 18 15—61

Winnebago (22-2) ………………… 18 15 27 16—76

HSC: Trey Asher 17, Grant Farmer 13, Blane Boyd 12, Austin Esch 10, Grant Schmidt 7.

W: David Wingett 21, Cedrick Blackdeer 14, Drake Gorrin 13, D’Von LaPointe 12, Manape Cleveland 11, TJ Frenchman 5.

Officials: Justin Pavich, Beau Heiss, Jake Wolf.

Omaha Skutt 75, Gothenburg 66

The young SkyHawks are likely going to be asked back for next year. Christian Banker, with 16 points, was the only senior to play for them.

Jackson Gordon, a 6-1 junior, led Class B’s No. 6 team (17-4) with 20 points.

“He’s not the big points-per-game guy for us, but he just does all the dirty work,’’ Skutt coach Kyle Jurgens said. “He was really on. He attacked the rim and did so much defensively. Tyson (Gordon) is the young guy, the freshman that has played good, but his brother is a smart player and does so much for our team that kind of goes under the radar.”

Sophomore center TJ Skradski had a double-double that included 17 points. He also helped get Gothenburg’s 6-8 senior Ty Clement into foul trouble. Clement finished with six points.

While the 6-6 Skradski didn’t finish a couple times late in the game as Gothenburg was trying to shoot its way back, Jurgens said he was pleased how Skradski did against the taller Swede.

“I know (Clement’s good), but I thought TJ matched up with him well,’’ Jurgens said. “He did an awesome job defensively on him and he did a good job of just going right at him early.

Will Healey got Class C-1 No. 5 Gothenburg (20-2) as close as 72-66 on a 3 with 19 seconds left. Gothenburg’s Dawson Graham, who topped his season average with 26 points, had three 3s in the final quarter, Healey two.

“We battled,’’ Swedes coach Roger Koehler said. “Their level of competition they’ve played throughout the year showed and I think that was a benefit for them. They put a lot more pressure on us than we’re used to seeing.”

Omaha Skutt (17-4) ………. 21 13 19 22—75

Gothenburg (20-2) ………… 16 10 14 26—66

OS: Jackson Gordon 20, TJ Skradski 17, Christian Banker 16, Austin Ash 13, Tyson Gordon 5, David Moreano 3, Jake Kudron 1.

G: Dawson Graham 26, Collin Hahn 16, Will Healey 10, Ty Clement 6, Grant Sell 5, Bennett Folkers 3.

Officials: Tyler Daly, Todd Rosno, Jason Pierzina.

Gretna 63, Beatrice 52

Top 10 No. 7 Gretna, the No. 2 team in Class B, turned back a Beatrice threat before it got too serious in the third quarter and then sat on a sizable lead for much of the final quarter.

After the Class B No. 7 Orangemen (15-5) trimmed Gretna’s lead from 30-19 at halftime to 36-30, Tyler Sullivan and Zach Imig had back-to-back 3s to double the lead.

Beatrice coach Tyler Struck said he thought each time the Orangemen had had a good look at a 3 and both hit the front of the rim.

“And they go down and answer,’’ he said. “Playing against a team that has a really good zone, if you would have told me Brandel Riekenberg and Dalton Hartig and Tilden Bardsley would have gotten some of the shots they got I would have liked our chances. I’d take probably 80 percent of these shots, if we ever play them again, and plan on making some of them. It was just one of those nights.”

Gretna coach Brad Feeken said he entrusts the Dragon defense to assistant Bill Heard and likes the continual tweaks Heard makes to the 2-3 zone.

“He’s amazing moving the parts,’’ Feeken said, “making the zone look like man (defense) at times.”

Gretna (19-2) eventually built a 54-37 lead before getting deliberate on offense. But Beatrice never got closer than double digits.

Trey Brown had 18 points, Sullivan 15, Imig 12 and Joey Johnson 12 for the Dragons. Bardsley had 18 and All-Nebraska football player Cam Jurgens 13 for Beatrice.

Gretna (19-2) …………. 18 12 14 19—63

Beatrice (15-5) ……….. 13  6 11 20—50

G: Trey Brown 18, Tyler Sullivan 15, Zach Imig 12, Joey Johnson 12, Ty Duin 6.

B: Tilden Bardsley 18, Cam Jurgens 13, Dillon Buss 10, Dalton Harris 8, Brandel Riekenberg 3.

Officials: Chris Mroczek, Troy Test, Corey Uldrich.

Wahoo Neumann 68, York 43

Neumann is not a team that’s shortening its rotation for the stretch run. Two losses in its three previous games had coach Mike Weiss re-evaluating how he was using his bench.

“Nothing came easy. What that suggested was we might not be able to do all the pressing and all the little things I like to do because I’m wearing my studs out,’’ Weiss said. “We have to play tough in the halfcourt. That’s why I love playing a tough schedule because I might not know this and if I get lucky to get to the state tournament, it’s, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

So he’s getting time for some of his shooters. Like Kobey Simons, who made only one 3-pointer but it came in an 12-3 run that put the Class C-1 No. 2 Cavs ahead 27-23 at halftime.

The second half, the Cavs (18-3) were back to their game of steals and runouts. York (13-7) made 24 turnovers while Jaxon Simons was finishing with 27 points (he had 16 of Neumann’s first 20), and Noah Vedral 20.

Garrett Snodgrass led York with 13 points. The Dukes were outscored 41-20 in the second half.

Wahoo Neumann (18-3) ……… 13 14 21 20—68

York (13-7) ………………………….. 17  6 11  9—43

WN: Jaxon Simons 27, Noah Vedral 20, Reid Jurgensmeier 7, Sean Dailey 3, Kobey Simons 3, Zach Meduna 3, Theo Blum 2, Isaac Woita 2, Eli Vedral 1

Y: Garrett Snodgrass 13, Brady Danielson 11, John Erwin 5, Simon Otte 5, Jeb Lucas 3, Nick Weskamp 3, Reid Hoffman 2, Tyler Cast 1.

Officials: Steve Farlee, Gary Pence, Jeff Wolf.

Columbus Scotus 52, O’Neill 35

Top-ranked Columbus Scotus (19-1) completed an eight-day run through the next three teams in the Class C-1 ratings. It beat Neumann on Feb. 3 and No. 4 Wahoo on Tuesday.

No. 3 O’Neill (19-2) shot poorly throughout the game, and its shot selection was questionable in the first eight minutes while falling behind 8-2. The No. 3 Eagles never led while scoring a season low.

Getting the majority of the Shamrocks’ points were their front line of Cody Mroczek (17 points), Dalton Taylor (16) and Trevor Kaslon (10).

O’Neill’s Alex Thramer had eight of his team-high 12 points in the second quarter.

O’Neill (19-2) …………………….. 2 18  5 10—35

Columbus Scotus (19-1) …….. 8 16 11 17—52

O: Alex Thramer 12, Jake Young 9, Tyler Regan 8, Justin Appleby 4, Bryce Heiser 2.

CS: Cody Mroczek 17, Dalton Taylor 16, Trevor Kaslon 10, Tate Vun Cannon 4, Caden Pelan 3, Nathan Ostdiek 2.

Officials: Tim Higgins, Mike Sterns, Brian Grupe

Elmwood-Murdock 52, Grand Island Central Catholic 42

Elmwood-Murdock coach Matt Shelsta got the defensive test he wanted for his team by playing the Crusaders in the day’s opening game.

The Class C-2 No. 3 Knights (19-3) led 21-16 at halftime. Then 6-4 sophomore Wes Dreamer, who had only a basket in the first half, came back with 10 points in the third as they led 37-24.

Mayra Almayra’s back-to-back putbacks for GICC (11-10) cut the Knights’ lead to 44-38 with two minutes left, but Elmwood-Murdock scored the next six points for a 50-38 lead with 1:12 left.

Dreamer and Marlatt each had 12 points for the Knights. Almayra had 14 and Aidan Anspauch 12 for the Crusaders.

Grand Island CC (11-10) ……… 6 10  8 18—42

Elmwood-Murdock (19-3) …… 11 10 16 15—52

GICC: Mayra Almayra 14, Aidan Anspauch 12, Jack Goering 10, Collin Toner 4, Chase Wenzl 2.

EM: Wes Dreamer 12, Caleb Marlatt 12, Brady Dreamer 9, Zach Rust 8, Cole Eggert 7, John Willey 4.

Officials: Rod Hartman, Dave Hemburger, Randy Kissinger.