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Courtesy Evan Bland, Omaha World Herald, March 7 LINCOLN — Traci Berg didn't worry about how to prepare her players for the setting of a state tournament. They have practiced under tougher conditions all season. Surely no one else in the Nebraska girls' basketball state field regularly went through workouts shouting amid the blare of construction equipment. No way anyone else squeezed their sessions onto a cozy half-court of space while the boys team did the same on the other bucket. Plenty of hoopsters wipe their sneakers on their hands out of habit- the O'Neill St. Mary's squad does it out of necessity as tile dust from nearby bathroom renovations keeps settling on the playing surface. “Our gym floor was constantly dusty and dirty,” said Berg, the Cardinals coach. “It's pretty amazing we made it through with no injuries because sometimes we were doing splits because our floor was so slick from mopping it.” Almost exactly five months before St. Mary's made its return to state Thursday in Class D-2, an explosion rocked the community of about 3,500 people in north central Nebraska. An early morning vehicle crash Oct. 7 damaged a gas line at St. Patrick's Parish Center, igniting a blast that destroyed the building and blew out windows at the adjacent St. Mary's elementary and high schools. “It sounded like thunder,” said sophomore Pyper Ickes, who lives about 10 miles outside of town. The destruction arrived at 5:55 a.m. — Berg knows because her classroom clock stopped exactly then. Initially there were rumors that the building might be condemned and basketball season may not happen. St. Mary's students relocated to Northeast Community College's satellite campus in O'Neill for school Monday through Thursday (Friday conflicted with scheduled college courses) through winter break. With no cafeteria, many often ate their sack lunches on a shop-class floor. “They were still upbeat, still excited,” St. Mary's Activities Director Tony Allen said. “Lots of smiles in the hallways. It just didn't seem like they missed a beat.” In normal times, St. Mary's basketball teams split their time between the high-school and elementary gyms for practice. The high school one was mostly unaffected but the other had extensive shattered window glass and damaged flooring. A three-man weave of sorts extended through late December between the girls, boys and one-act play using the space along with elementary workouts. One team might practice at 6 a.m. and the other after school. Other times one group began a two-hour session at 4 p.m. and overlapped for 30 minutes with the other at 5:30 — 10 girls players at one basket and 13 boys at the other in what are tight confines for one squad. “That was the joke was that even an explosion didn't ruin our gym,” Berg said. Both teams made state in the same year for the fifth time (2024, 2022, 2013, 2012). The third-seeded girls played Thursday night at the Devaney Center. The boys, at 21-5, play Silver Lake at Pinnacle Bank Arena next week. Two venues that are bigger, cleaner and quieter than the Cardinals are used to. “They never complained,” Allen said. “They knew this was how it had to be and things would get better. When things like that happen, it strengthens the whole community.” Most of the girls were also on the volleyball team that held its senior night at O'Neill's public high school. They helped move desks and chairs from the elementary to a nearby church. They cleaned glass-covered tar from the playground and replaced it with woodchips. One wipe-down effort of more than an hour included cleaning off dusty library books. “I think it brought us closer as a team,” said Emerson Mlnarik, a junior forward. “When we were at the college it was a smaller area and we were always close together. Had to get to know each other a little better – I think that definitely helped us out.” The Cardinals arrived in Lincoln with a 24-2 record and more perspective than most. Moving on from three longtime starters — each 1,000-point career scorers — didn't seem as daunting this winter. Losses to Battle Creek and West Holt didn't snowball. “We kind of proved everybody wrong,” said guard Annabelle Barlow, one of four seniors along with Casey Clements, Lily Bauer and Loretta Scofield. They also became part of history after St. Mary's Academy burned down in 1891 and again in 1965. This time the school wasn't a total loss. Neither was the chance at a life lesson. “It's a great reminder of how quickly things can change,” Berg said. “I think it has helped bring us all together.” Berg herself was among the most affected, not returning to her classroom until this week. Most of her game-planning this season happened next to a space heater in The Dungeon, the nickname of the basement of the elementary school. Boys coach Luke Bulau navigated the same situation, often working remotely on his laptop. Construction materials still reside in the gym as repair work continues around and within St. Mary's. The more basketball the Cardinals play, the more normal it all seems. “They've just rolled with it,” Berg said. “Kind of like the season.”
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