Milford Girls' defeat Malcolm in High School Varsity Basketball and win the Class C1 State Championship on Saturday, March 7th, 2026

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By: Evan Troxel

The #1 seeded Milford Eagles High School Girls' Varsity Basketball team defeated the #3 seeded Malcolm Clippers in the Class C1 State Tournament Basketball Championship Game by a final score of 66 to 52 on Saturday, March 7th, 2026, at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Malcolm won 27 games and lost just two games all season long, with both of those losses coming against Milford.

Malcolm previously lost to Milford on 66 to 64 on January 8th.

Milford won 28 games and lost just one game. Their lone loss was to Norris on December 16th, 2025, 56 to 48.

Halle Dolliver scored 22 points for Malcolm. She made three three-pointers and five free throws!

Ashlynn Miller scored 19 points for Milford. She made six two-pointers, one three-pointer and four free throws.

Malcolm lost to the defending state champions last year (Lincoln Christian) on February 28th, 2025, 82 to 65, in the District Final.

As a result of the win, Milford won their first state championship in school history in Girls' High School Varsity basketball. The Eagles were the runners-up last year in the actual year of 2025, to Lincoln Christian by a final score of 49 to 42 on March 8th, 2025.

To start the game, Ashlynn Miller made a two-pointer for Milford.

Then, Kenna Wilcox made a two for Malcolm to tie the game.

Ashlynn Miller then scored two more points for the Eagles.

Payton Dolliver made a two and the score was tied at four apiece with 4:50 remaining in the opening quarter.

Shayla Rautenberg then made a two-pointer and Milford led 6 to 4.

Lena Schmidt then drilled a three and Malcolm led 7 to 6.

Abby Crabtree then responded with a three-pointer and the Eagles retook the lead.

Halle Dolliver then made back-to-back threes of her own and the Clipper led 13 to 9 with 1:56 remaining in the opening quarter.

Shayla Rautenberg then made two free throws for Milford.

Maeli Kubicek then made a three for the Eagles and they led by one 14 to 13.

Kenna Wilcox then scored a three for the Clippers and they were up by two with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.

Kylie Jakub then made a three and Milford led 17 to 16.

Halle Dolliver then made two free throws and Malcolm led after one quarter 18 to 17.

Malcolm had four leads in the first quarter, Milford had four leads in the first quarter (and the Eagles technically led six times in the first quarter), there were three ties in the first quarter and there were eight lead changes in the first quarter.

To start the second quarter, Payton Dolliver then made a left-handed layup and a free throw for the Clippers and Malcolm led 21 to 17 with 6:54 to go in the second quarter.

Ashlynn Miller then made a two-point left-handed layup for Milford.

Shayla Rautenberg then made a right-handed layup and the game was tied at 21 with 5:06 remaining in the second quarter.

After Halle Dolliver made a short shot on the left side in the paint for the Clippers, Abby Crabtree made a three-pointer for the Eagles and it was a straightaway three and slightly to the left of the center of the court off the glass and Milford led 24 to 23.

Halle Dolliver made a two-pointer just inside and near the free throw line for Malcolm.

Abby Crabtree then made an impressive two-point right-handed layup for Milford while trying to avoid defenders.

Lena Schmidt then made a three from the right 45 degree angle and Malcolm led 28 to 26 with 3:58 left in the second period.

Payton Dolliver then headed to the basket for Malcolm and committed an offensive foul against Milford's #0 Libbie Reil (that's what my notes say anyway) and that likely may have been the most impactful play of the entire game!

Adalyn Cisneros then made a three in the left corner with about 2:00 minutes remaining in the half for the Eagles.

Shayla Rautenberg then made a two-pointer in the paint for Milford and they led 31 to 28 with 30 seconds left in the half.

Kylie Jakub then made a three in the right corner for the Eagles and Milford led at halftime 34 to 28.

Malcolm missed four three-pointers near the end of the second quarter with three of them coming from one basketball player.

The top scorers in the first half for Malcolm were Halle Dolliver with 12 points and Lena Schmidt with six points and Kenna Wilcox and Payton Dolliver with five points each. That is a total of 28 points.

For Milford in the first half, the top scorers were Abby Crabtree and Shayla Rautenberg with eight points each and Kylie Jakub and Ashlynn Miller with six points each.

Malcolm led seven times in the first half, Milford led seven times in the first half (and the Eagles technically led nine times in the first half, there were four ties in the first two quarters and there were fourteen lead changes in the first half.

To start the third quarter, Payton Dolliver made a two-pointer for Malcolm.

Ashlynn Miller then made a left-handed layup for Milford and they led 36 to 30.

Halle Dolliver then made a three-pointer for the Clippers with 6:00 remaining in the third quarter!

Ashlynn Miller then made another two-point from the left side for the Eagles.

Miller then made a three straightaway right down Broadway (and she celebrated afterwards) and Milford led 41 to 33 with 4:23 left in the third quarter.

Payton Dolliver then made two free throws for Malcolm.

Abby Crabtree then made a two-pointer for the Eagles near the free throw line on the right side for Milford with 3:11 remaining in quarter number three.

Payton Dolliver then made a long two-pointer on the left side near the free throw line for the Clippers.

Shayla Rautenberg then made a two-pointer on the right side for Milford.

Lena Schmidt then made a three-pointer from the right 45 degree angle for Malcolm to keep the deficit within five points!

Shayla Rautenberg then made a two-pointer on the right side off the glass and Milford led by seven 47 to 40 with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter.

Halle Dolliver then made a two-pointer on the right side for the Clippers.

Ashlynn Miller then made a two-pointer on the right side for the Eagles with 1:03 to go in the third quarter.

Halle Dolliver then made a two-point layup with the right hand on the left side for Malcolm and then she also made a free throw immediately afterwards.

Payton Dolliver then made two free throws for Malcolm and after three quarters Milford led 49 to 47.

Milford led the entire third quarter and they led by as much as eight in the third period. Malcolm reduced their deficit from halftime by four points after three quarters.

To start the fourth quarter, Kylie Jakub made a three-pointer for Milford from the right 45 degree angle.

Jakub then made another three-pointer, this time from the right corner and the Eagles led 55 to 47

After a missed three from Malcolm sometime early in the fourth quarter, Blair Duzik made a three for the Clippers from the right 45 degree angle and Milford led 55 to 50 with 4:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

After another missed three-pointer by Malcolm, Abby Crabtree then made a two-pointer for Milford and the Eagles led by seven with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Payton Dolliver then committed a foul on Milford's Kylie Jakub.

Abby Crabtree then missed a couple of free throws for Milford with 2:38 remaining in the fourth period.

Shayla Rautenberg then made two free throws for Milford with 2:19 left in the fourth quarter and the Eagles led 59 to 50.

Blair Duzik then missed two free throws for Malcolm with 1:33 to go in the fourth quarter.

Halle Dolliver made two free throws for the Clippers with 1:19 left in the fourth quarter.

Ashlynn Miller then made two free throws for Milford and the Eagles led with 1:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Kylie Jakub then only made the second of two free throws for Milford and the Clippers trailed the Eagles by ten with 49 seconds to go.

Malcolm missed a three from the right corner.

Abby Crabtree then made two free throws for the Eagles with 33.6 seconds remaining and Milford led 64 to 52.

Ashlynn Miller then made two free throws for Milford and the Eagles led 66 to 52.

After two more missed threes by Malcolm late in the fourth quarter, the game clock expired, the horn sounded and Milford won their first state championship in Girls' High School Varsity basketball history!

If I am not mistaken, this is only Milford's fourth appearance ever at the State Tournament.

Milford never trailed in the fourth quarter (or at all in the entire second half) and there were zero ties in the second half.

The Eagles biggest lead came at the end of the game.

The top scorers in the second half were Malcolm's Halle Dolliver who scored ten points and Payton Dolliver who scored eight points!

For Milford, their top scorers in the second half were Ashlynn Miller with 13 points, Kylie Jakub with seven points, Abby Crabtree and Shayla Rautenberg with six points each. That is a total of 32 points of the 32 points scored in the second half for the Eagles!

For Malcolm, Payton Dolliver scored 13 points. She made five free throws!

Lena Schmidt made three three-point baskets and totaled nine points!

Kenna Wilcox scored five points. She made one three-pointer.

Blair Duzik scored three points. She made one three-pointer.

For Milford, Abby Crabtree scored 14 points. She made two three-pointers and two free throws.

Kylie Jakub scored 13 points. She made four three-pointers and one free throw!

Shayla Rautenberg scored 14 points. She made five two-pointers and four free throws!

Adalyn Cisneros and Maeli Kubicek each scored three points. They each both made one three-pointer!

Malcolm won 22 or more games in two of the last four seasons! They won only 15 games in the 2024-25 season and improved by 12 wins this season!

Malcolm finished in fourth place (I guess) at the State Tournament at the end of the 2022-23 season and they lost to Bridgeport 69 to 58 on March 4th, 2023.

Milford won at least 25 games for the second straight year and they also have won 20 or more games in three of the last four years!

So both Malcolm and Milford have two state tournament appearances in the last four years!

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Be sure to follow me on Gab.com/Evan_Troxel for live and up-to-the-minute individual basketball player point totals and team scores of the Ogallala Indians High School Boys' Varsity basketball games at the State Tournament on Thursday and Friday, March 12th and 13th, 2026, as I will be posting it live on Gab for the quarterfinal and the semifinal round at least! I also will be posting on Gab if Ogallala plays in the third place game on Saturday, March 14th, 2026. I will post postgame stats on Gab if Ogallala plays in the State Championship Game in Class C1!

Evan Troxel is a broadcast journalist based currently in western Nebraska hoping more people will promote all of his Internet content because it is the truth and it is not an opinion!