The High School Roundup took the last couple of weeks off as most of the future Division I players in the state competed in the Metro Holiday Tournament, which Hail Varsity recapped start to finish, but it’s back this week and features one senior passing a milestone and another making his season debut.
2021 Millard North Guard Hunter Sallis (Nebraska Target)
By his lofty standards, Sallis had a bit of a slow week, though Millard North still went 2-0.
On Tuesday, the Mustangs out-scored Elkhorn South 18-0 in the second quarter on the way to a 67-46 win at home. Sallis finished with 15 points on 5-of-11 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two turnovers.
The Mustangs had a much tougher time on Friday at Gretna as the Dragons took them to overtime. However, Millard North made enough plays to pull out a 53-50 win. It’s worth noting that Gretna plays mostly zone defense and likes to slow down the game as much as possible.
Sallis led Millard North with 18 points on 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and two turnovers. He missed all three of his 3-point attempts last week.
2022 Millard North Forward Jasen Green (Nebraska Target)
Green is really coming on strong lately. After scoring a career-high 18 points in the Metro Holiday final, Green scored in double figures in both of last week’s games making it three straight after reaching that threshold three times in Millard North’s first eight games.
Against Elkhorn South, he put up 13 points on 6-of-12 from the field and 1-of-3 from the foul line. He added five rebounds, all on the offensive end, one assist and one steal. He followed that up with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting including 3-of-3 from deep. He added four rebounds, one assist and one block to his stat line.
2020 Millard North Forward Max Murrell (Stanford Commit)
There are a lot of mouths to feed at Millard North, and right now, Murrell is the one most struggling to find shot attempts. Against the Storm, he had four points on 2-of-4 shooting (0-2 from 3), three rebounds, three blocks and one turnover. Against Gretna’s zone, he took just one shot, hitting a 3-pointer, and he also grabbed three rebounds, dished out two assists and recorded one steal and one block.
Millard North has two road games this weekend. The Mustangs will take on Papillion-La Vista on Friday and then will face Omaha Creighton Prep on Saturday in a rematch of the Metro Holiday Tournament final.
2020 Lincoln North Star Guard Donovan Williams
After Donovan Williams decommitted from Nebraska, Texas coach Shaka Smart swung through Lincoln and offered the 6-foot-5 guard (he apparently wants to corner the market on players with that name). He then made his season debut on Tuesday and let everyone know he was back with a bang.
Williams put up 31 points on 9-of-19 from the field, 2-of-6 from 3 and 11-of-13 from the free-throw line with seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover in a 74-60 win at Lincoln Southeast.
On Saturday, however, the Gators fell at home to Papillion-La Vista 76-72. The box score for that game has not yet been posted.
North Star has just one game this week, a trip to Norfolk on Friday.
2021 Bellevue West Point Guard Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin Commit)
Bellevue West had just one game last week as it took on Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln in the Jennie Ed MAC Shootout Border Battle. Bellevue West led most of the way until a rough third quarter, but the T-Birds took control down the stretch and pulled out a 59-53 win.
Hepburn finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-15 from the field, 1-of-3 from 3 and 8-of-9 from the foul line, four assists, three steals, two rebounds and four turnovers. After trailing by seven at halftime, Abraham Lincoln used an 18-4 run to take a 43-36 lead. With the final seconds ticking off, Hepburn rose up and knocked down a 3-pointer just before time expired for Bellevue West’s first field goal of the quarter.
Hepburn and Louis Fidler took over in the fourth, outscoring the Lynx 16-10. Hepburn shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth and scored Bellevue West’s final six points capped by a dunk at the end.
2021 Bellevue West Wing Frankie Fidler
Frankie Fidler had another quiet game last week, finishing with just five points. He hit a 3-pointer in the second quarter and then followed it up with a layup in transition on the end possession, but that was it. He shot 2-of-4 from the field with three rebounds, three steals, two assists and a turnover.
The most impressive play he made came in the fourth quarter. He turned the ball over but then sprinted back and stole it right back, passing the ball off to Hepburn who threw the ball ahead to the elder Fidler for a layup that put Bellevue West up 53-49 with 1:34 to play.
Bellevue West has a tough week coming up with road games at undefeated Lincoln Pius X on Thursday and at Omaha Westside on Friday.
2020 Omaha Westside Guard Jadin Booth (Omaha Commit)
Jadin Booth had a huge week and passed a milestone in the process.
On Friday, The Warriors smacked Omaha Creighton Prep 88-61 in one of the most heated rivalries in the Metro. Booth went off for 31 points and became Westside’s new career scoring leader in the process. He shot 10-of-16 from the field, 6-of-10 from 3 and 5-of-5 from the line with six rebounds, three rebounds, one steal and one turnover.
On Saturday, Westside took down Elkhorn South 63-47 behind 25 points from Booth. He shot 7-of-14 from the filed, 4-of-9 from 3 and 7-of-7 from the foul line with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.
Westside hosts Bellevue West on Friday and then travels to Lincoln East on Saturday.
2020 Omaha Central Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
Omaha Central had its only game last week canceled. The Eagles were supposed to travel to Sioux City to take on an 11-1 Sioux City East team, but OPS cancelling after school activities because of the snow on Friday afternoon put a kibosh on that trip.
This week, Central has two home games: Lincoln East on Friday and Millard South on Saturday.
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.
