Pender and Oakland-Craig give the East Husker Conference a pair of defending state champion girls basketball teams this year.
But only one at most can earn another title in March.
After winning the last two of its three consecutive state championships in Class D1, Pender moves back up to Class C2, where the Knights earned their title last season.
But the similarities between the two programs don’t end there. Far from it.
Both have an identical enrollment number of 42 this season.
Both are regulars in the Nebraska Girls Basketball Showcase, where Oakland-Craig faces Cross County and Pender takes on Millard North this season on Saturday, Jan. 10, in Kearney.
After any big win, Knights coach Scott Guzinski and Pendragons coach Jason Dolliver can be counted on to quickly credit their teams’ defense for the outcome.
Both teams feature senior 3-point sharpshooters who happen to live under the same roof as their coach — Pender’s Mady Dolliver and Oakland-Craig’s Sonya Guzinski.
Both head coaches also have a freshman daughter on their team this season.
“There’s a ton if similarities, and there’s probably more connections than you realize between the two,” Jason Dolliver said. “It’s a good thing to be compared with them in any shape or form because they’ve been a good program for quite some time, and Scott does a great job.
“There are a lot of similarities — and some eerie ones, too.”
Scott Guzinski said: “I think that is what makes the rivalry so competitive are those similarities. And there is respect. They do a great job, and they’ll play anybody. They’re playing Millard North this year. They’re playing Council Bluffs St. Albert.
“We got into the showcase to play Cross County, and we just picked up a game against Gretna East.”
While both teams have their similarities, they also have their individual paths they will travel this season on their journey to try to return to Lincoln.
Pender’s senior class has valuable contributors from each of the past three state championship squads.
It would be tough to find a current group of players who have been involved in more big-time games over the course of their high school careers.
“It’s incredibly invaluable,” Jason Dolliver said. “The things that they’ve seen, there’s no one who has seen that. There’s kids that have seen it over the course of time, but no one this year has been in their shoes, which is kind of a cool thing if you really think about it. That experience is hopefully going to pay off huge in the end.”
There are some differences this year for the Pendragons.
On the court, there is a taller look.
“We’ve got height. That’s something we really haven’t had in the past,” Dolliver said. “We have a lot of kids who are big and long, and that looks quite different than it has the last couple of years. That’s something new, and we’re trying to figure out how exactly to utilize all of those components.
“The athleticism is there. The skill level is high, and they’re great kids.”
There will be a new point guard after Maya Dolliver graduated after running the offense during Pender’s three-peat.
But the new point guard is her freshman sister, Mayci.
“They’re very similar in a lot of ways,” Jason Dolliver said. “Maya has a few things that Mayci doesn’t, but Mayci has a few things that Maya didn’t. I think people will look out there and do a double take.
“(Mayci) is going to wear No. 4 just like her big sister. That was her choice and not mine. She’s just a freshman and has a lot to learn, and it’ll be point guard by committee a little bit.”
Other point guard options include tough 5-foot-11 matchups in senior Hadley Walsh and sophomore Myra Hansen.
Walsh returns after putting up 15.9 points and 7.5 rebounds.
“She is a coach’s dream,” Jason Dolliver said. “She is a kid that can do it literally from any spot on the court. If you put a defender with some size on her, she is so quick and skilled to the rim that she can score in that manner. If you try to match up that speed and athleticism, she has the length to get in deep and get a good shot up, and a lot of times, those shots go in.”
Mady Dolliver, who also can run the point, averaged 14.1 points and broke the all-class records for 3-pointers in a season (111) and in a state tournament (18) last year.
Off the court, the big difference is the return to Class C2, where Pender won the first of its current stretch of three straight titles — by beating Oakland-Craig.
“We’re excited about it,” Dolliver said. “It’s stacked. C2 has a lot of good teams, and we’re hoping to get to Lincoln. If we get there, we’re hoping for the best.
“It’s one step at time, though, right? Let’s get the season rolling first. But C2 is tough. If we’re going to get back to where we’ve been the last three years, it’s going to take a lot of effort and commitment over the next three months.”
The early tests include the annual Pender vs. Oakland-Craig meeting on the second Friday of the season, this year being played in Oakland on Dec. 12.
“Especially early in the season, we find out what we’re made of,” Dolliver said. “It’s been a difficult game every single time we’ve played them over the last four years, and they’ve made us better. I hope we’ve made them better.”
What are the goals for a three-time state champion?
“I’d be lying if I told you anything other than we want to be the C2 state champions,” Dolliver said. “That’s one of our goals that we’ve put forward for ourselves.
“The other is we want to have an enjoyable experience and make lifelong memories. At the end of the season, we want to look back and say, ‘Hey, that was a lot of fun,’ and we want that to be the case whether or not we win the state tournament.”
The defending Class C2 state champion has a strong nucleus to try to make another run.
“My first five or six kids are pretty good, and they set a pretty good tone for everyone else,” Scott Guzinski said. “I think they really understand what it is that we’re trying to do. We’re trying to run transition every time, they want to play pressure defense, they really share the ball well, they get each other open shots. They’re just really unselfish, and that makes life really easy for me as a coach.”
There can be challenges that come with having such a driven group.
“I think one of the hard things about coaching the group that I have is that I have a bunch of perfectionists, so everything has to go right,” Guzinski said. “They don’t want to lose a game, they don’t want to miss a question on a test. Everything has got to be right, but everything is not going to go right. We have to focus on doing the best that we can and keep getting better.”
That strong nucleus includes four seniors and a sophomore.
Senior Briar Ray averaged 13.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 3.1 assists.
Sonya Guzinski averaged 10.9 points with 76 made 3-pointers and led the Class C2 state tournament in scoring.
Sophomore Hilary Ray put up 8.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Mia Thomsen and Carolyn Magnusson — both 5-8 seniors — are unselfish players who can be counted on to play great defense, Scott Guzinski said.
After that group, the Knights are looking to develop depth.
“We have a senior, Emma Anderson, that didn’t play a bunch last year after not going out as a sophomore,” Guzinski said. “She’ll be a kid that will come in off the bench and play really good defense.
“From there, we have five sophomores, and we have to figure out which ones fit into what we’re trying to do. We have some bigger kids who are 6-foot who are still growing into the game. We’re looking for someone to step up from that sophomore group because we need one or two more people to be able to play.”
The road to repeating won’t be easy. In addition to Pender, Alma moved up from Class D1, and Guzinski said that was the best team Oakland-Craig played over the summer.
The class also includes perennial contenders Guardian Angels Central Catholic and Crofton.
“Pender being in the same class that we are obviously makes the class more difficult, and they’re in the same sub-region that we are, too,” Guzinski said. “Pender is the best team that we played last year.”
The goals for the defending Class C2 state champion mark another similarity it shares with Pender.
“If you asked our kids, they would be very disappointed if we didn’t make it back to the state tournament,” Guzinski said. “I think that’s the ultimate goal. We always talk about how once you get to state, it’s a reward for all that you’ve done throughout the season.
“You don’t know what your matchups are going to be, you don’t know how things are going to go. Last year, we could have easily lost in the semifinals, we could have easily got beat in the finals, and we had a lot of things go right. You hope that that happens, but you try to make it to state, you prepare the best that you can, you hope that you make some shots and play together as long as you can.”
Pender or Oakland-Craig? Oakland-Craig or Pender?
They were the choices to win the East Husker Conference by the league’s coaches, listed 1-2 in either order while often also being picked among the top two teams in Class C2.
For now, Pender gets the slightest nod. Which team is best early in the season will be decided when they play on Friday, Dec. 12.
Regular Mid-State Conference powers Guardian Angels and Crofton are preseason No. 3 and 4.
GACC graduated two of its top scorers and will need to find new faces to produce points. Coach Jerry Stracke said the Bluejays would be challenged with a tough schedule that could cause early struggles but help the team improve as the season goes on.
Crofton did lose a strong senior class from last year’s 25-4 squad, but a solid group returns led by senior Jaisie Janssen (10.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and junior Seanna Pinkelman (6.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg).
No. 5 O’Neill returns most of last year’s 16-8 team and looks to make a move up toward the top of the Mid-State standings. Junior Hannah Hilker has 720 career points and made 65 3-pointers last season.
No. 6 Elkhorn Valley lost plenty of talent from last year’s 28-1 Class C2 runner-up, but the cupboard is far from bare. Junior Cameron Rutjens (11.2 ppg) and sophomore Kyndal Werner (5.7 ppg) are among the key players back.
No. 7 Pierce enters with high expectations after an 18-9 season. The Bluejays hope to continue to grow and stay healthy to contend for their first state tournament appearance since 2018.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge rounds out the preseason ratings, looking to make a big jump after last year’s 12-12 season with a strong group of returning starters who hope to carry momentum into the season off of the volleyball team’s Class C2 state runner-up performance.
Wynot missed the state tournament for the first time since 2018 last year, but the Blue Devils look ready to make a huge jump led by returning all-conference selections Kenna Oligmueller, Addison Sharpe and Jaylin Geisen.
No. 2 Howells-Dodge should be in the mix of what coach Scott Polacek calls a wide-open Class D1 this year. The Jaguars return senior Kenadie Throener and juniors Kylie Brichacek and Peyten Becker, who have a combined 1,282 career points.
No. 3 Cedar Catholic returns two starters and three major contributors off the bench from last year’s 17-12 team that finished third in Class D1. Junior Anisten Wortmann averaged 10 points while senior Addison Walter added eight.
No. 4 Elgin Public/Pope John returns its top two scorers back from last year in juniors Braelyn Martinsen (11.8 ppg) and Madelyn Kurpgeweit (11.1 ppg).
No. 5 Bloomfield brings back a large group from last year’s 15-10 team that reached its first conference championship game. Madyson Mlady returns after an impressive freshman year that saw her average 18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds.
The injury bug hit No. 6 St. Mary’s hard, losing point guard Pyper Ickes to a knee injury this summer and backup point guard Halle Boettcher to a knee injury during volleyball. The Cardinals always seem to flourish despite a small roster, and a hard-working group of nine will try to maximize its potential this year.
No. 7 Archangels Catholic starts the year as an inexperienced team, but seniors Kali Jarosz, Jayda Krings and Whitney Wegener return after averaging a combined 19 points and 12 rebounds per game.
No. 8 North Central looks to build on last year’s success as a 14-12 team that advanced to a district final. Four starters are back for coach John Klosterman, who moves over after being North Central’s assistant boys coach the past three years. Mya Lewis led the team with 14.5 points and 7.9 rebounds.