Lincoln-A solid first quarter wasn’t enough for Elm Creek on Friday night as Howells-Dodge used a balanced effort and beat the Buffaloes 60-36 in the Class D1 state semifinals. Elm Creek was ready to go early, behind nine first quarter points from Quin Oberg they raced out to a 15-5 lead in the opening period. Howells-Dodge would counter in the second quarter with a 18-3 run to finish the first half and lead 29-20 at the break.
In the second half, Elm Creek would never get closer then seven points. The Jaguars would hit eight threes on the night compared to just three for the Buffaloes who were just 3-18 from the outside. Oberg led Elm Creek with 19 points as he went over 1,700 points in his career. Howells-Dodge had four players in double figures led by Ethan Prusha and Andre Martin who each scored 17. The Buffaloes are now 22-6 and will play in the third place game at 3pm on Saturday vs Lutheran High Northeast. That game can be heard on 93.1 the River and krvn.com. Howells-Dodge is now 25-4 and will play in the state title game at 8:15pm.