By Con Marshall
The Bridgeport girls and the Ogallala boys won the championships at the Chadron Rotary Club’s annual George Watson Basketball Classic at Chadron State College on Tuesday.
The girls’ championship game was close, but Bridgeport, which led 46-37 at the end of the third quarter, hung on and edged Ogallala 61-58. The winning Bulldogs were led by Ella Schluterbusch with 18 points, Tacey From with 14 and Jailyn Nichols with 11. Ogallala was paced by Aniston O’Neil with 16 points while freshman Shaydyn Rasby finished with 14 before fouling out. Laney Caskey added 11 points for the Indians.
The boys’ championship contest was not close. Led by all-star Sawyer Smith’s 25 points, Ogallala defeated Bridgeport 63-36 after jumping out to a 26-10 lead in the opening period. Edan Cain added 11 points for the Indians. Bridgeport was paced by Hayes Watts with 15 points and Landon Dean with 11.
Both of the winning teams ended the 2024 portion of their schedules undefeated. The Ogallala boys are 9-0 and the Bridgeport girls are 8-0. Bridgeport will host Ogallala in a girl-boy double-header on Tuesday, January 7.
Chadron and Valentine also split the consolation games in the Rotary Classic on Tuesday. Chadron won the girls’ game 43-35. Sophie Watson had 12 points and Gracie Calkins 11 for the Cardinals while Paige Sprenger scored 15 points and Aiden Hand 11 for the Badgers.
Valentine won the boys’ third place game 81-71. Both teams’ leading scorer—Andon Olson for Valentine and Thomas Smith for Chadron—tallied 27 points. Smith scored 12 of his points in the final quarter when the Cardinals trimmed a 20-point deficit down to 10 points.
Isaac Cronin added 21 points and Dominic Beebout 17 for the Badgers. Chadron’s double figure scorers besides Smith were Brady Daniels with 16 points and Derek Bissonette with 10.