WEEPING WATER- “There’s eleven seconds left. Grace Cave down the right side of the court for Weeping Water. All the way to the hoop… gets the bucket. Indians 40, Bulldogs 39. Pierce to halfcourt with one second, heaves up the desperation shot. No good. Grace Cave game winner. Wow.”

Those were the words to describe the end of the Class D-1 girls basketball tournament 44 days ago.

Today, Nebraska Senator Robert Clements met with the state champions who received an award from the Nebraska Legislature recognizing them on their state run.

Weeping Water high school reached the top of Class D-1 for the first time in school history, but their road to success was not an easy one. 366 days before their first title, Weeping Water was the top seed in the 2020 tournament. The Indians fell in the first round to eight seeded Hartington CC 54-49. Then junior, Grace Cave, says Weeping Water envisioned hoisting the trophy a bit early.

“I think last year was kind of like a mental game,” Cave said. “We were like the first seed, so we didn’t really think of ourselves as the underdog.”

The loss in 2020, although was heartbreaking for Weeping Water, was also humbling, according to Cave.

“This year, we really thought like, yeah so what we were first seed last year and we still got knocked out,” Cave said. “Just having confidence and playing as a team really helped us.”

And that confidence from Cave was needed in the waning seconds of the game when she scored on the final possession for the Indians to secure its first title in school history.

Cave and Weeping Water returned home to celebrating fans, but there were also a few neighboring cities that appreciated the Indians run.

“I’m from Elmwood, just ten miles west from Weeping Water,” Senator Clements said. “We’re similar small schools, and we have a lot of school pride. Especially in our athletics. I was really glad to see that a local school was able to win a championship.”