The basketball talent in Nebraska is on the rise, and all season long, Hail Varsity will be tracking the in-state players with Division I offers, including those Nebraska is recruiting.
2021 Millard North Guard Hunter Sallis (Nebraska Target)
Millard North split its games last week, although Sallis was solid in both games.
The Mustangs smacked Papillion-La Vista 73-48 on Thursday (a game which was moved up from Friday because of the forecast). Sallis led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 3-of-4 from the foul line. He just missed the double-double with nine rebounds (five offensive), three assists, three turnovers and one steal.
On Saturday night, Omaha Creighton Prep avenged its loss in the Metro Holiday Tournament final and handed Millard North its second loss of the season in a 65-60 rock fight. Creighton prep junked up the game by constantly switching up defenses and using plenty of zone while Millard North’s length also caused problems for the Junior Jays. The two teams combined for 46 turnovers.
Sallis put up 19 points on 6-of-10 from the field and 7-of-12 from the free-throw line, two rebounds, three assists, two steals and four turnovers. His struggles from the 3-point line continued as he missed all four of his attempts last week, giving him eight straight misses dating back to Millard North’s win against Papillion-La Vista South in the Metro Holiday Tournament semifinals.
2022 Millard North Forward Jasen Green (Nebraska Target)
Jasen Green’s double-digit streak came to an end against Papillion-La Vista as the sophomore finished with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting with five rebounds (two offensive), two assists, one turnover and one block in the win.
He doubled that output against the Junior Jays with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting (2-of-6 from 3) and 0-of-1 from the line. He grabbed three rebounds and three steals and turned the ball over twice. Green had a look from the corner for the tie with Millard North down 63-60 in the finals seconds but couldn’t get it to fall.
2020 Millard North Forward Max Murrell (Stanford Commit)
After scoring seven points in two games the previous week Murrell stepped up with 18 points on 7-of-12 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3 and 1-of-2 from the line, five rebounds, five blocks, four assists, one steal and two turnovers.
He only took four shots and scored four points against Creighton Prep, however, missing both of his 3-point attempts. He grabbed four rebounds (three of which were on offense), dished out three assists with two turnovers, blocked five shots and notched two steals.
Millard North has two games this week. The Mustangs will play at Omaha Bryan on Tuesday and will host Omaha Westside on Friday.
2021 Lincoln North Star Guard Donovan Williams
North Star only had one game scheduled last week and it got postponed because of the weather. However, in North Star’s loss to Papillion-La Vista on Nov. 11, Williams went over 1,000 points for his career. He’s third all-time on the school’s scoring chart.
Off the court, Williams’s recruiting continues to pick up as he took a visit to Kansas State over the weekend and received an offer from Bruce Weber.
North Star has two games scheduled for this week. On Friday, the Gators will host Lincoln East and on Saturday they’ll travel to Grand Island.
2020 Bellevue West Point Guard Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin Commit)
For the second straight week, the Thunderbirds only had one game, but it was a big one. Bellevue West made the drive down to Lincoln on Thursday to take on the undefeated Thunderbolts of Pius X and handed them their first loss, 74-56, thanks to a dominant fourth quarter (21-7).
Hepburn actually had an off game scoring-wise, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-14 from the field, 1-of-3 from 3 and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. He made up for that in other areas, however, recording a career-high 11 assists with just three turnovers, seven rebounds and a steal.
2021 Bellevue West Wing Frankie Fidler
With Hepburn not hitting shots, the Fidler brothers stepped up and carried the scoring load. Louis led Bellevue West with 23 points but Frankie wasn’t far behind with 19 points on 8-of-10 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3 and 0-of-1 from the line. He grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists, and recorded two steals and one block, though he also turned the ball over four times.
It was Fidler’s fourth double-digit scoring game of the season and second-highest behind the 21 points he scored during the Metro Holiday Tournament first-round game.
Bellevue West has two tough games this week. First, on Tuesday, the Thunderbirds will play at Omaha Westside. Then, on Saturday, the T-Birds will host Omaha Creighton Prep.
2020 Omaha Westside Guard Jadin Booth (Omaha Commit)
Westside had one game last week and it was a big one for Booth. The Warriors won at Lincoln East 66-56 behind 26 points from the future Maverick. Booth shot 7-of-13 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3 and 10-of-12 from the foul line with five rebounds, three assists, three steals and one turnover.
The Warriors have a tough week coming up with three games against two of Nebraska’s best as well as a 9-2 team from Iowa. Westside gets Bellevue West on Tuesday and Millard North on Friday, and then they’ll take on Sioux City East on Saturday in the showcase game of the Nebraska Prep Classic at DJ Sokol Arena.
2020 Omaha Central Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
Omaha Central went 2-0 last week. On Thursday, the Eagles beat Lincoln East 65-49. Central entered the fourth quarter with an eight-point lead and doubled that advantage by the final buzzer.
Wrightsell didn’t have his most efficient game but still led the Eagles in scoring with 18 points on 5-of-13 from the field, 3-of-7 from 3 and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line with four rebounds (two offensive), two assists, four steals and a turnover.
Central blew out Millard South 90-68 on Saturday after building up a 15-point lead by halftime. The Eagles had not posted the box score from that game as of Monday afternoon, however.
The Eagles have one game this week, a rematch with the Papillion-La Vista squad that knocked them out of the Metro Holiday Tournament in the second round.
Jacob Padilla has been writing for Hail Varsity since 2015. He covers football, volleyball men’s basketball and prep sports. He also co-hosts the Nebraska Preps Postgame and Nebraska Shootaround podcasts for the Hurrdat Media and Hail Varsity podcast networks. His love of basketball can best be described as an obsession and if you need to find him, he’s probably in a gym somewhere watching, coaching or playing hoops.
