GREAT BEND -- Freshman Lincoln Shafer shot with the poise and confidence of a senior.  

The Greeley County guard hit two gigantic 3-pointers in the span of a minute late in Friday's Class 1A Division II boys semifinal against Northern Valley at Barton Community College.  

Shafer broke a 47-tie on a 3 with 3:43 left. After Northern Valley answered with a 3, Titus Sherer's layup put Greeley County back in front before Shafer knocked in another triple to put the Jackrabbits up five with 2:43 remaining.  

The Jackrabbits then fended off the Huskies in the closing moments to notch a 59-54 and advance to the state title game for the third time in program history. They will meet defending champ Hanover at 4 p.m. Saturday in the final.  

Shafer showed no hesitation to launch either one of the big 3s in the fourth quarter.  

"Fire away," Shafer said. "If they're falling, they're falling." 

Junior standout Jaxson Brandl scored a team-high 21 points and then found success dishing out to the perimeter when Northern Valley started collapsing on the versatile forward.  

Greeley County (23-2) finished 10 of 29 from deep, led by Shafer's 4-of-10 showing.

"He might be a freshman in age but he's not playing like a freshman by any means," Greeley County Josh Gooch said. "He's played with these juniors for five, six, seven years. Age is just a number with these guys. They trust each other, they play hard for each other. It was just a fun game." 

Gooch said he tries to give the Jackrabbits the freedom to be aggressive in the shots they take.  

"As long as their feet are set and they catch in rhythm and shoot in rhythm, then I'm fine with it," Gooch said. "I tried to fight that the last four or five years. This year and last year I just kind of backed off and let the shooters shoot." 

It was locked at 38 heading to the third quarter before Valentin Villalobos' 3 put the Greeley County in front. The Huskies held a brief lead at 47-45 with 4:22 left after two free throws by Bailey Sides. It was tied on two more occasions before Sherer's bucket put the Jackrabbits in front for good.  

Shafer and Sherer each scored 14 points to join Brandl in double figures.  

"It was a great team effort," Gooch said. "Everybody played a role and executed their role." 

Brandl added 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals to go along with the 21 points.  

"He put a lot of trust in his teammates," Gooch said. "He has a very high basketball IQ of knowing where the double team is coming from and where his teammates are. He does a good job of finding the open man, making the right decision." 

"We practice that all the time," Shafer said. "It's just natural to him (to find shooters)." 

The Huskies had a chance to tie or take the lead with under 30 seconds left but came up empty, and Brandl hit two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to push the Greeley County lead to four. 

Foster Brands scored a game-high 22 points for the Huskies while Sides added 12. Northern Valley went 17 of 53 from the field and 4 of 18 from 3-point range and 16 of 22 from the foul line. Greeley County was 18 of 53 from the field and 13 of 18 from the stripe. 

Northern Valley (22-3) will take on Bucklin in the third-place game at noon on Saturday.  

The Jackrabbits lost in the sub-state championship game the last two years before breaking through. They'll be looking for their first state title since 2011.  

"We've been expecting this stage since last March when we got knocked out," Gooch said. "The kids have been focused for 365 games. We took care of business with game 24. Now we're just getting ready for game 25. There's nothing else to it. We get to play on the last day, which is everybody's dream. I hope we can finish with a win." 

HANOVER 61, BUCKLIN 54  

When Bucklin unleashed a furious rally to storm back within striking distance after trailing by as much as 18, the last thing Hanover coach Cory Jensen wanted his Wildcats to do was get tentative.  

"We'll never be the team to pull it out and tries to kill that clock," Jensen said. "Too many times you see teams that give up leads doing that kind of thing. We have an attack mentality, whether it's offense or defense, no matter what point in the game. We always instill that in our guys and they adhere to it." 

Bucklin trailed 43-25 with 1:27 left in the third quarter before the Red Aces caught fire, using a 14-1 run to creep within five with 6:03 left after a steal and bucket from Scott Price.  

Hanover answered with back-to-back buckets from Philip Doebele and Josh Zarbynicky to push it back to nine. Bucklin whittled it down to five on three more occasions but could get no closer.  

"We got some big buckets late because we were attacking," Jensen said. "They did a great job." 

Hanover (24-1) will be looking for its eighth state title in program history in Saturday's championship game vs. Greeley County. 

Both the Wildcats and Red Aces love to play at a frenetic pace.  

"It was a fun game," Jensen said. "There was a lot of possessions in that game. They do a really good job of getting the ball out and getting the ball up the floor. We really did a good job that first half, especially transition defense. I don't think we gave much in transition. They were a fun team to watch." 

Bucklin, fresh off its first state tournament win in program history, struggled with turnovers and missed open looks in the first half, trailing 31-16 at the break before finally finding its footing late in the third quarter.  

"We started taking care of the ball a little bit better," Bucklin coach Derek Bevan said. "That's what absolutely killed us the first half, we had 18 turnovers and that led to a lot of their transition layups and easy buckets for them. 

"Second half, I don't know if we just finally got calm or what, but we took good care of it, got looks and knocked it down." 

Doebele had a huge night for Hanover in the post, scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. 

"We told him before the game that we needed a monster game from him," Jensen said. "He always steps to the challenge. He's phenomenal down low and our guys did a good job of getting him the ball. He had a great game." 

Scott Price and Andrew Bowman each scored 18 points for Bucklin.  

"Andrew Bowman played a phenomenal game for us, getting inside and getting it in that zone," Bevan said. "Scott did what Scott does and played well for us. We were just a couple shots away from it being a different outcome.

"I love the heart that they showed in the game. Down (18), they could have very easily rolled over and said, 'Well, we're playing early tomorrow.' But they kept fighting and really worked their butts off. I'm super proud of the guys." 

Bucklin will close out its best season in school history in Saturday's third-place game at noon against Northern Valley. 

TRIBUNE-GREELEY COUNTY 59, NORTHERN VALLEY 54  

Northern Valley 13 11 14 16 -- 54 

Greeley County 17 10 11 21 – 59  

Northern Valley (22-3) – Thalheim 2-12 3-4 7, Sides 3-12 5-6 12, Loya 2-4 0-0 6, Hansen 2-10 1-2 5, Brands 7-13 7-20 22, Preston 0-0 0-0 0, Schemper 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-53 16-22 54.  

Greeley County (23-2) -- Shafer 5-11 0-0 14, Mangan 1-3 0-0 3, Sherer 4-12 4-7 14, Martinez 1-3 0-0 2, Brandl 5-12 9-10 21, Schneider 0-0 0-0, Villalobos 2-3 0-1 5, Yanez 0-9 0-0 5. Totals 18-53 13-18 59.  

3-point goals – Northern Valley 4-18 (Loya 2-3, Sides 1-4, Brands 1-4, Thalheim 0-4, Hansen 0-3), Greeley County 10-29 (Shafer 4-10, Brandl 2-4, Sherer 2-6, Mangan 1-3, Villalobos 1-1, Martinez 0-1, Yanez 0-4). Rebounds – Northern Valley 37 (Thalheim 9), Greeley County 37 (Shafer 7, Brandl 7). Assists – Northern Valley 7 (Sides 3), Greeley County 11 (Brandl 6). Total fouls – Northern Valley 20, Greeley County 18. Fouled out – none.  

HANOVER 61, BUCKLIN 54  

Bucklin 8 8 17 21 – 54  

Hanover 21 10 12 18 – 61  

Bucklin (20-6) -- N. Bowman 2-15 0-1 5, Lindsay 1-2 0-0 2, A. Bowman 8-14 0-0 18, Price 7-15 0-3 18, Stimpert 0-0 0-0 0, Stein 0-3 0-0 0, Cook 2-2 0-0 6, Kirk 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 22-53 0-4 54.  

Hanover (24-1) --Dimler 4-12 2-5 11, Zarybnicky 2-16 3-5 7, Jueneman 6-10 4-7 16, Stallbaumer 1-3 0-0 2, Doebele 10-16 2-2 23, Bruna 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 24-61 11-19 61.  

3-point goals – Bucklin 10-25 (Price 4-8, Bowman 2-4, Cook 2-2, Bowman 1-10, Kirk 1-1). Hanover 2-18 (Dimler 1-7, Doebele 1-3, Zarbynicky 0-3, Jueneman 0-2, Stallbaumer 0-1, Bruna 0-2). Rebounds – Bucklin 34 (Price 7), Hanover 38 (Doebele 13). Assists – Bucklin 15 (N. Bowman 6), Hanover 15 (Jueneman 7). Fouled out – Dimler, Lindsay.