Sadler catches Crayton in action
There was a Doc in the house at Bryan Thursday night, but this one wasn’t making any house calls.
Nebraska basketball coach Doc Sadler was in attendance for the championship game of the Bryan Cage Classic between Bryan and Bellevue East.
Sadler made an offer to East’s Jarrell Crayton after the state tournament a year ago, but the 6-7 East senior has yet to make any college commitments.
Sadler had to be impressed by what he saw as Crayton scored 24 points (18 in the second half) and pulled down 13 rebounds in leading East to a 58-47 victory.
He also had to be impressed with East’s hustle and effort throughout the night, very similar to the way Doc’s boys have played most of the year. Now if Doc’s team could just find a way to win one of these games.
Not sure what to explain for the lack of scoring punch across the state this year. Maybe it’s because guard play is down a little bit, maybe defenses have taken over the game or maybe players just don’t know how to shoot anymore. Whatever the case, you had four of the state’s best teams (East, Bryan, Ralston and Creighton Prep) in the Cage Classic. Yet in the four games, none of the teams was able to break the 60-point barrier.
East will play a game in two weeks against a South Dakota school and will use a 35-second shot clock. Let’s examine what happens in that game and explore if maybe that might be a possible solution to add a little zip to our Nebraska game.
Good to see Nick Sears back wrestling for the Gross squad this year. Sears suffered a shoulder injury in the football season and was kept off the mat until the Millard West Invite last weekend. Sears, a runner-up at state last season, went 3-1 to finish third at 171 pounds and is ranked second in the state in Class B at that weight.
For a Cougar team that is thin on numbers, his return has to be a blessing for first-year coach Mike DeGeorge.
