GERING, NEBRASKA: The 31^st Panhandle Prep All Star basketball games were held at Gering High School last Friday evening and Niobrara County High School had four participants. Gracie ZumBrunnen represented the Lady Tigers, while Tiger head coach Ed Fullmer got to coach Ridge Kupke and Jackson Smith one more time.

ZumBrunnen came off the bench for the blue squad and her three pointer early in the second period pushed the lead to 29-16. It remained around 15 points for most of the second and third quarters before the blue pulled away. ZumBrunnen knocked down another trey midway through the fourth in the 85-63 win.

“It was a long day but a lot of fun,” ZumBrunnen noted. “It was great meeting the rest of the team, and I’ll be getting to play volleyball at EWC with one of the Torrington girls, so that was nice.”

The boys game found the blue team in a quick hole before Kupke knocked down a pair of free throws to bring it within seven points. A three point deficit turned into a seven point halftime lead for the blue squad at 52-45.

At halftime, Kupke was honored as the 2025 recipient of the Panhandle Prep Scholarship.

Smith got in the scoring column with a basket under the hoop and the blue holding a slim 56-53 lead in the third quarter. He added a free throw as the game wound down in the 99-88 victory.

“That was a pretty good game, I had a lot of fun,” said Kupke. “And, we ended with a W,” Smith added.