Howells-Dodge Caps Off "Title Town" Claim with Boys State Championship

LINCOLN, Neb. -- For the second time in seven days, Howells-Dodge is bringing home a state championship #1 Howells-Dodge had the rare opportunity to stamp themselves as "Title Town," trying to be the only team in Nebraska to win state championships in both boys and girls basketball this season. Meanwhile, McCool Junction stood in their way, trying to be the only boys team to win a championship coming in as lower than a 5-seed.

The Jaguars came out of the gates on fire, scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the game. From there, McCool Junction stayed strong and went blow for blow with Howells-Dodge for the next two quarters. The Mustangs cut the lead to as close as six points in the final minutes of the third quarter.

Howells-Dodge finished even hotter than they started, outscoring McCool Junction 17-8 in the final quarter, winning 57-39, capping off their claim as Title Town.

Rebounding was where Howells-Dodge made their mark, out-rebounding McCool Junction 37-20. Dane Meyer led the rebounding efforts with 10 to go with his six points and four assists. Chase Luther was the Jaguars' leading scorer, tallying 14 points.

Howells-Dodge Head Coach Kevin Janata said after the game the team battled back after some early adversity to come together: "I'd say the turning point was St. Mary's. We had just got beat pretty bad by North Bend two nights before, just calming everybody down. Our five together is better than most fives. You look in this tournament, there was a lot of great individual players… You see our guys, there's a 13 (point game), there's another 13, a 10, and an eight and it's like our five together is pretty good. When we play as five, we're pretty hard to beat."

Howells-Dodge caps off their championship season with a 26-3 record.