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3rd Annual Omaha Shootout
Qwest Center Omaha
Saturday, February 10, 2007

1 p.m. -- Louisville vs. Elmwood-Murdock
Small-school rivalry

Archrivals Louisville and Elmwood-Murdock, located 12 miles apart just south of Omaha, are ranked No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, in Nebraska Class C-2. Louisville-behind 5'10" All-State guard Tyler Petersen, the school's leading career scorer-was state runner-up last season in Class C-1 and is currently undefeated with a 13-0 mark. Elmwood-Murdock returns four starters from an 18-3 team, including the two leading scorers, juniors Kevin Zoz and Trent Schrader. Zoz, a 6'0" guard, is averaging 18 points and recently broke the school's single-game scoring record with 37 points.

This annual clash between Omaha and Kansas City Jesuit high schools originally was to be played at Creighton Prep's gymnasium. Rockhurst's outstanding player is 6'5" guard Connor Teahan, the 2006 Gatorade "basketball player of the year" for the state of Missouri; he also is a major-college football quarterback prospect. Teahan was instrumental in the Hawklets advancing to the Missouri Class 5 basketball semifinals the past two seasons and to the football semifinals in 2005.

Perennial power Lincoln Northeast, which has won 12 Nebraska Class A state titles, is paired against a Kansas team that has made eight consecutive appearances in the Class 5A state tournament. Bishop Miege, the alma mater of Creighton University freshman Isaac Miles, is powered by 6'4" blue-chip junior Travis Releford, who is being recruited by North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Iowa and Texas (to name a few). Northeast's leading player is 6'8" center Wendell Faines, a Drake University signee who set a school record for blocked shots last season and recently recorded a rare triple-double.

Coaches Tom Krehbiel of Boys Town High School and Tom Betz of Bishop Heelan were high school basketball teammates at Heelan in the mid-1980's. Last season Boys Town captured its first Nebraska basketball championship (Class C-1) in four decades. Sophomore Isiah Gandy leads this year's Cowboys team in scoring (15-point average). Heelan, the alma mater of current Creighton University star Nate Funk and an Iowa Class 3-A runner-up in 2001 and '02, is paced by first-team All-State senior Clint Sargent, a South Dakota State signee, and one of Iowa's top sophomores, 6'9", 265-pound Brennan Cougill. Both players are averaging 17 points for the Crusaders.

Three-year starting forward Neil Gross and a future Nebraska Cornhusker football lineman, 6'7", 270-pound junior Dan Hoch, are the two featured players on the vaunted Harlan basketball team that will face Nebraska's Class B defending champion. Harlan may be riding a 45-game winning streak when the Cyclones come to Omaha to play a currently undefeated Skutt team that returns six of its top seven players, including All-State point guard Trent Schlautman and leading scorer Matt Foster, Nebraska's No. 1 free-throw shooter (91.3%). Harlan has advanced to the Iowa Class 3-A title game three of the last four years, winning it in 2006 and '04.

Nebraska's defending Class A champion faces one of America's elite teams, Montverde Academy from central Florida. McDonald's All-American candidate Solomon Alabi (Florida State signee), a 7'1" center from Nigeria, is among several future NCAA Division I players on the powerful Montverde team. Other high-profile players include seniors 6'4" Gary Clark (originally committed to University of Florida but now uncommitted) and 6'9" Jean Michel Yotio (University of Central Florida), and juniors 6'0" Dashan Harris (uncommitted) and 6'6" Martez Walker (University of Louisville). Omaha Central returns its high-scoring three-guard offense: senior Ben Kline and juniors Josh Jones and Ronnell Grixby.