Plenty went well for Kevin Asher and his Aurora boys basketball program a year ago, including handing eventual back-to-back-to-back Class B state champion Omaha Skutt Catholic a 49-48 loss in the regular season finale.
In the end, however, the Huskies missed out on a trip to the state basketball tournament due to a pair of back-to-back losses to end the season.
Grand Island Northwest avoided a three-game sweep by the Huskies in 2024-25 after upending the Class B power 54-42 in the B-7 Sub-district final. Northwest fell to Asher's club 53-46 and 52-42 during regular season action.
Aurora (21-5) did accumulate plenty of district points during the regular season to earn a berth in the B-8 District final despite the loss. The Huskies, however, dropped a 50-40 decision to Gretna East, falling short of Nebraska's high school version of March Madness.
Asher, who is 67-35 at Aurora and 520-250 for his career, does lose three seniors from a year ago, including Booker Scheierman, who produced 16.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.8 blocked shots an outing a year ago.
Scheierman ripped down 308 rebounds as a senior to break his brother Baylor's school record for rebounds in a season.
Asher Prins and Parker Smith combined for 8.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, a steal and blocked four total shots between them before graduating last spring.
Seniors Canon Allen and Ryan Staehr return to their starting spots in 2025-26. Allen was Asher's No. 2 scorer a year ago with 320 points and a scoring average over 12. The 5'9 point guard knocked down just over 30-percent from beyond the arc and pulled down four rebounds a contest.
Staehr (5'10 Guard) played the 2-Guard for Asher a year ago and scored 8.5 points a night, pulled down a pair of boards and dished out a couple of assists while shooting 31-percent from long range.
Key contributors from a year ago, Jayden Slagle (6'3 Senior Wing), Jaxon Slagle (6'8 Sophomore Center) and Brooks Handrup (5'11 Senior Shooting Guard) all return after playing in at least 17 games each last winter.
The trio combined for 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.5 steals. Jaxon Slagle blocked 12 enemy shots on the year.
