LINCOLN, Neb. - The old adage is that defense wins championships, and for Ashland-Greenwood that expression certainly holds true. And on Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena that defense helped bring the Bluejays their third state championship in the last four seasons with a 53-39 victory over Omaha Concordia in the 2025 NSAA C1 Boys Basketball State Championship.

The second boys basketball state championship contest this weekend in Lincoln featured #3 seed Omaha Concordia (23-5) facing off against #5 Ashland-Greenwood (23-5) for the C1 crown. Both teams were mired in slow starts offensively until AG pulled off an 8-0 first quarter run to build a ten-point lead. Then Drew Kulus nailed a first-quarter buzzer-beater to give the Mustangs a little life, pulling them to within 12-4 after one.

Cooper Westerhold took command in the second quarter, scoring six of his game-high 16, helping the Bluejays extend that lead to 21-10 at the intermission. Neither team hit a three in the first half, but threes finally started to fall for the Mustangs in the third quarter with Jack Thrasher and Jackson Shepherd connecting from downtown - that cut AG's lead down to just six going into the fourth quarter. 

Early in the final period, star forward Derek Tonjes buried the Bluejays' first deep ball of the game to extend the edge. Thrasher did all he could to keep the Mustangs afloat, sinking two more threes to score a team-best 14 points, but the Bluejays knocked down enough free throws late - Cal Kissinger went 6-of-6 from the stripe in the final period - to pad the lead before Tonjes sealed up a state title by snagging a defensive rebound and racing to the rack for an emphatic slam with 49 seconds to play. Ashland-Greenwood never trailed in the game, prevented Concordia from ever getting to the free throw line, and captured its third state championship in the last four seasons with a 53-39 victory.

"We told them at the beginning of the year that this group had the biggest room to grow this year, because of some new faces, it's a youthful team," Ashland-Greenwood head coach Jacob Mohs said. "And we weren't sure how high they would get, but somehow they reached the top. So it's a credit to the great kids in our program and the work that they put in."

"It took a lot of hard effort and work, but it was a team effort," said Westerhold, who had to overcome leg surgery that could have ended his career just to have the chance to play this season. "It starts on the defensive end, and that's obviously what got us off to a great start today and built us that lead and I think that we bought in, decided that defense was going to be our identity, and that's how we ended up here."

Concordia head coach Ken Kulus echoed that sentiment, saying the Bluejays' defense was tough for his team to beat. 

"We just didn't score it enough. You just can't come out of the first half with ten points, you just can't, if you expect to win - unless you hold them to 12 or 14, which we didn't do."

Mohs said his team had to get through some growing pains in January to be able to get better in March - and here in March, his team stands on top as C1 boys basketball champions once again. 

Westerhold and Kissinger went a combined 13-of-14 from the line to score 16 points each, tied for the game high. Tonjes scored 13 with six rebounds, and Logan Fangmeyer led all players with 10 boards. Thrasher and Kulus both scored 14 to pace the Mustangs.

SCORING BY QUARTER:

Ashland-Greenwood: 12 | 9 | 8 | 24

Concordia: 4 | 6 | 13 | 16