Been there, done that. Not against Bago, but still.

That in a nutshell is how Ponca all-stater Logan Kingsbury described his most recent heroics, a last second scoop shot that helped his team beat mighty Winnebago in the final of the Shootout on the Elkhorn holiday basketball tournament.

With the game tied at 58-all and 40 seconds left in regulation Ponca ran the clock down to eight seconds before calling a timeout. After that, it was Logan Time.

“I drove the lane and at that point I had three or four options but the whole thing opened up where I had a shot, so I took it,” remembers Kingsbury, a 6-2 senior. “I’d done that (game winner) before a couple of times but not against Bago. When we beat Bago it’s a big deal.”

None of which surprised his head coach, Adam Poulosky. “As far as playing in the clutch, Logan loves those big moments. He gets really excited to play in the big games against the great opponents and he has a knack for making things happen in those games.

It is also true it’s also a big deal to beat Ponca these days, seeing as how the Indians are the defending Class C-2 state champs. Not that any team actually has beaten the Indians this season.

Ponca is off to a sizzling 15-0 start to the season, one highlighted by the win over 12-1 Winnebago and another against 12-1 BRLD, pushing the Indians into the No. 2 spot in the Class C-2 wild card standings. As fate would have it Kingsbury and his Ponca buddies get another close look at Winnebago tonight (Tuesday) in a battle of elite teams which will be played at Winnebago.

All this for Ponca basketball after winning state last season, though to listen to their senior leader the Indians were simply checking off their to-do list.

“Winning state was pretty good but that was the goal,” says Kingsbury matter-of-factly. “We talked about it and then we were good enough to do it. We knew we had a real chance after we beat Bago last year. They are our measuring bar.”

A four-year starter, Kingsbury is one of those players whose stats simply don’t do justice. Oh he scores some (11.3 ppg), rebounds some (5 rpg), shoots a mean free throw (75%) and leads the team in assists. Fine, that’s all fine, but it’s not the whole story.

“Logan’s best asset as a player and as a teammate is that he doesn’t need to score to have huge impact on the outcome of games for us,” says Coach Poulosky. “He affects the games in so many ways. Logan is a great passer and does a great job of setting up his teammates for success. He is a great rebounder on both ends of the floor and he always seems to come up with timely steals on defense as well.

“Logan isn’t flashy but, for instance, I really don’t worry about going against presses much when he is on the floor because he is such a good ball handler and passer with great vision. That is invaluable to a coach.”

Kingsbury was also a key figure on Ponca’s 10-1 football team that reached the Class C-2 playoff quarterfinals. Just like in basketball, for him football is more about people than scores or statistics.

“The relationships you build with your teammates is what it is all about to me. We have grown up together, worked hard together, and now we are winning together,” he says.

And they have done so with a sense of humor. Sometimes a biting sense of humor, says Logan. “We do a lot of screwing around, laughing and having fun. It’s a great bunch of guys.”

Born in Hamilton, Ohio, which is in the southern part of the state near Cincinnati and also where his father went to high school, Logan is the oldest child in the family that includes his four brothers and two sisters. Among those siblings is his younger brother Carter, another real good athlete, and a bit of a loose cannon. “I need to keep an eye on him,” says Logan.

Beside the state championship in basketball and the 10-win football season Kingsbury was also a member of Ponca’s golf team that finished as state runner-up. His college future is all sorts of up in the air as he vacillates between life as a student at UN-Lincoln or a student athlete at one of the many Division II schools that have shown interest in him as either/both a football or basketball player.

Interestingly enough, Logan will pursue a degree in political science with the idea of becoming a state-level politician during his career. This comes as no surprise to Coach Poulosky.

“Logan is extremely into politics,” agrees Coach. “He owns more political T-shirts than I have Ponca basketball shirts, and I have a ton of them.”

And you know what? They both have state championship T-shirts, too.