On Thursday, February 6th, the Westside Warriors and the Millard North Mustangs faced off in one of the games of the year. Both Nebraska starting quarterback Dylan Raiola and running back Emmit Johnson were in the house to watch this top five matchup. Both have been touring high schools throughout the state showing their gratitude toward the Nebraska community.
“Personally I want to show my gratitude,” Raiola said “We’re grateful for the support we get from 90 thousand every Saturday, so it’s the least we can do.”
Raiola has toured some high schools down and Lincoln and Millard West before coming to Westside and he came to one of the best games of the year. Both teams started a tad cold but then the Mustangs got hot, getting out to an 18-8 lead behind four first quarter threes. The second quarter was one in the same with lots of threes and a big Millard North lead but Westside once again had a couple of key baskets to end the half and was down four going into half. Both Raiola and his entourage were invested in the game, getting excited after every three, some of which were from 30-35 feet out, and every big dunk.
“It’s a great experience and a great game,” Riaola said “You guys put on a good show and we really appreciate it.”
In the third quarter Westside started hot and eventually held a 50-48 lead off of a Emre Gedik and one which got the crowd and new friend Riaola fired up, but then Major Mosser of the Mustangs hit two transition threes which sparked a 10-2 Mustang run to end the quarter. The final quarter was a battle, but about midway through the fourth Gedik got called for a offensive charge which was his fifth foul of the game and put the Warriors’ best scorer out of commission for the final minutes. Along with the foul, Gedik got called for a technical foul which Millard North converted to keep in front. Eventually the score was 69-66 with 10 seconds left after Coriahnn Gallatin hit two clutch free throws.
Westside went to Freshman Lee Robinson who had made a buzzer beater against Creighton Prep to take the shot. His contested right wing three was too long and the follow up by London Dada was shot late and Millard North came up with a big win on the road handing the Warriors their only loss at home in the season up to that point.
Millard North was led by their big three of Derek Rollins who had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Gallatin who had 13 points and is within 10 threes of breaking the Class A record and Major Mosser who had big second half points to finish with 12 on the game. Along with them, Ralston Transfer Deacon Courtney had his first big game against a top opponent with 10 of his own.
For the Warriors it was still the Dada show. London Dada kept his hot streak going with 21 points on five threes, which kept Westside in the game for most of the third quarter. Along with Dada, Robinson had himself a good day with 17 points and seven rebounds, and nearly sent the game to overtime with the final shot. Seniors Carson Healy and Tyson Odvody combined for 13 rebounds and ten points as well.
Fouls were a big part of this ball game with boths sides and even Riaola baffled at some of the calls. In total there were 32 total fouls in the game, 17 against Westside and 15 against Millard North. Many players got into foul trouble for both teams. Along with Gedik fouling out Robinson had four fouls at the start of the fourth. Dada and Healy also had three by the end of the game. For the Mustangs Mosser got the first two fouls of the game which took him out for some of the first half and he finished with four fouls. All said, only two players between the two teams had no fouls.
The real winners of the day were the student sections of both sides who got pictures and autographs from the Cornhusker stars, but the Mustangs had something extra to cheer about with the win. For both teams this is a battle that we could see in March where both teams have a good chance of winning their district championship and having a run at the state title with the Mustangs trying to make it to their sixth consecutive state final and Westside a chance to win their first state championship since 1980.
