A good friend of mine has recently become a newspaper editor in western Nebraska. I was scoping out his paper's website yesterday, and came across a great achievement.
I do not keep up with high school girls basketball. I know of a handful of good teams in Texas, mostly at the class 5A level. I do remember, though, from my days in Oklahoma, that the best show is at small school tournaments, especially the state tournament. The small school tournaments there are the best attended, and the passion for hoops is greatest in tiny communities where there is nothing else.
Sioux County High School is located in Harrison, Nebraska (population 279), in the far northwest corner of the state, near the borders of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is 48 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart. According to the Nebraska School Activities Association, Sioux County is the second-smallest school in the state, with an average attendance of 24. The school's website shows 30 students. There are 16 girls in the school, and 12 play basketball.
Last night, the Sioux County Warriors qualified for their first ever girls state tournament, defeating Maywood by a score of 43-32. They now advance to next week's state tournament in Lincoln. I know nothing about Nebraska girls basketball, but I wish them well.
The Warriors now get to ride a big yellow school bus 503 miles to Lincoln (according to Mapquest). I don't think they'll mind. If they're lucky, maybe someone could spring for a charter, or at least a nice minibus. Either way, it's a really, really big deal.
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