Archangels Catholic quiets EPPJ to claim D2 title, school's first under new name

LINCOLN - Humphrey, Nebraska has its first boys basketball state championship in ten years. It's a school with a new name, Archangels Catholic, after a recent consolation, but it retains a long-established defensive identity - and that's what helped carry them to the title in the 2026 D2 Boys Basketball State Championship game on Saturday morning at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

#1-seed Elgin Public/Pope John faced #2-seed Archangels Catholic for the D2 state title on Saturday morning in Lincoln, and it was all Archangels in the first half. For the second time this week they held an opponent to single-digit scoring in a half, permitting the Wolfpack just six points over the opening 16 minutes.

Max Henn heated up late in the third quarter to give EPPJ some hope, scoring more points in the third quarter (10) than his team tallied in the entire first half. But Gavin Geilenkirchen, Tucker Czarnik and the Archangel defense wreaked havoc on the Wolfpack: they recorded a total of 18 steals, forced EPPJ into 23 turnovers, and scored 27 points off those turnovers. To a man, they turned steals into immediate scores time and time again. A fourth quarter steal and slam from Brenden Johannes sealed the deal: Archangels Catholic are the 2026 D2 champions, 50-30, over EPPJ, anchored by their excellent defense.

"Our defense is a little bit unique, and not a lot of people probably run it," Archangels head coach Eric Kessler said Saturday. "You can only run it if you’ve got guys who are working their rear end off all the time, you just have to be relentless defensively, and luckily for me I’ve got guys that are willing to put in [the work], and it’s hard work, I think these guys would probably agree. I’m blessed with some really good athletes that work hard, and that’s a pretty good combination for what we do."

"We could've seen 1-3-1 20 times this year, it wouldn’t matter – nobody runs it like them," EPPJ head coach Matt Euse said. "Coach Kessler is one of the best coaches in the state, and that’s such a historic program, and congratulations to them, they have a fantastic team. But I swear, once those kids are born over there, the first book they get for bedtime stories is how to run a 1-3-1."

The Defenders took their name to a literal level this week, allowing their three opponents to score a grand total of 110 points to capture their first state title under their new moniker.

"Our defense turns into our offense," said Czarnik, who set a career high with eight steals along with nine points and six rebounds. "So us getting turnovers, steals, turns into our fast break, and if we’re having a hard time scoring, our defense makes it easier for us, giving us more confidence – our defense is pretty much our game."

"It’s all about what we can control. We can’t control the shots going in, but we can control our effort on defense. At the end of the day, defense wins championships," said Geilenkirchen, who tallied six steals himself along with 12 points. "We’ve been playing basketball since third grade, so that connection’s always been there. Defense is just effort. We know that our 1-3-1 can’t work unless all five people are putting in 100 percent effort all the time."

"It’s about what we can control. If shots aren’t falling, we can rely on our defense," Johannes echoed. He led the Defenders with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. "It’s mostly about your effort and your mentality, like you’ve got to go in with a mentality that you’re going to make it difficult for the other team, and you’re going to limit them to as little as you can. We enjoy playing defense, just because of how fun it is and how good we are at it."

Before the recent consolidation and rebrand to Archangels Catholic, the Humphrey area's last boys basketball state title came in 2016. Kessler was the coach then, too, and for someone who graduated from that school and now once again calls Humphrey home, winning another title a decade later was pretty special.

"The community of Humprhey has a lot of pride, our school in general is very prideful, and we have a lot of tradition – and these guys have continued that today. I’m very fortunate to be able to graduate from there, I live there, and fortunate to teach and coach there," Kessler said.

Henn led all players with 16 points on 5-of-10 field goal shooting - he made five of his team's eight field goals in the game (27%). Star scorer Jarek Erickson was "limited" to nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds in his final game. EPPJ was one of the best teams in D2 this year, only losing, albeit three times, to defending champs St. Mary's - the school that Archangels topped in the semifinal this year to move on to the championship. Erickson will be gone, but EPPJ believes this year's showing bodes well for the future of another newly-consolidated school..

"I tell the guys at the beginning of the year every year, I want guys who hate losing more than they like winning," Euse said. "I love winning, but I absolutely hate losing. And I think if we can get a group of guys that have that same mentality, and they put forth that kind of effort, I think we’ll be in a pretty good position."