With a roster full of juniors and sophomores, Archbishop Bergan head boys basketball coach Ryan Mlnarik's club was thought to be a year away from greatness. After all, only three of his early season starters had a substantial amount of playing time.
Bergan's head coach, however, continued to teach and by season's end the Knights were playing as well as or better than anybody.
"Over the course of the regular season, this team lost eight games but really learned something from each one of those losses," Mlnarik said. "Those lessons learned proved to be extremely valuable in the growth of this team towards the end of our season.
"As we moved through the toughest part of our schedule our confidence grew on both ends of the floor as we learned that we could compete with the top teams in the state. We were fortunate to have some things go our way the last few weeks of the season and found a way to win a (Class C2) state championship."
Bergan ran into plenty of roadblocks along the way, coming out on top in 10 of its first 18 contests while battling seven opponents that won at least 18 basketball games.
They lost all seven of those contests, including back-to-back losses to Class C1 runner-up Omaha Concordia who finished the season 23-5. In all, the Knights went 14-9 against foes that won more basketball games than they lost.
Bergan, who is thought to be the first No. 8 seed to win a state championship since Mead claimed the Class D1 title in 2009, went 3-6 against state tournament qualifiers. Following the two losses to Concordia, the Knights concluded the season by winning nine of their final 10 basketball games to finish the year at 19-9 and claim the school's fifth boys state basketball title.
Back to help Bergan make a serious run at back-to-back state championships is Gavin Baker who averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and two blocked shots for the season.
The 6-6 Senior forward earned first team all-state tournament honors and was tabbed the tournaments Most Outstanding Player after he averaged 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 3.3 blocked shots in state tournament wins over No. 1 seed Freeman (51-49), No. 4 seed Summerland (64-48) and No. 3 seed Cross County (53-43) in the title game.
After leading the Knights in scoring over the three state tournament games, Bergan junior Cale Sheets (6-1 Guard) also earned first team all-state tournament honors after averaging 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game. For the year, Sheets poured in 9.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest.
Other starters returning for Mlnarik following the state title campaign are Trey Mooney (6-1 Junior Guard), Trent Mlnarik (6-1 Junior Forward) and Gavin Dean (6-2 Junior Guard). Mooney poured in 9.4 points and dished out 4.3 assists per contest a year ago while Mlnarik was good for 4.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists an outing in 2024-25. Dean ripped the cords for 5.9 points on average last winter.
Alex Kruse (5-10 Senior Guard), Nolan Paulsen (5-8 Sophomore Guard), Owen Nelson (6-2 Junior Forward) and Eli Prauner (6-2 Junior Forward) all return after earning letters for Bergan a year ago while averaging 7.5 points a game collectively.
