LINCOLN, Neb.—Brothers Greg and Dwight Smith were unstoppable, which made Ralston unbeatable.
Greg and Dwight Smith combined for 44 points and 19 rebounds and Ralston broke open the game in the second quarter, beating defending champion Beatrice 61-49 in the Class B final at the boys state tournament Saturday night.
“We had no answer for the Smith boys tonight,” Beatrice coach Jim Weeks said. “When they play like that, they’re going to beat us most nights. We just couldn’t stop them. We’re not going to beat them when they play like that.”
Greg Smith had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Dwight Smith 21 points and nine rebounds. The Rams (22-4) shot 65 percent from the field while winning the school’s first basketball title since 1964.
“This is more than anything than I’ve ever dreamt of,” Greg Smith said. “I’ve dreamt about this every day for four years. This is just unbelievable.”
Grant Smith had 16 points and Tommie Bardsley 12 for Beatrice (20-3), whose only losses were to the Rams, their chief rival in the River Cities Conference.
Ralston trailed 16-10 after the first quarter, then went on a 15-0 run and never led by fewer than five points the rest of the way.
Smith scored 11 points in the second quarter, finishing the Rams’ first-half scoring with a dunk that put his team up 27-18. A Bardsley 3-pointer just before the buzzer sent the teams to the locker room with Ralston ahead 27-21.
