Basketball Recap: Hudson Grau's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Lincoln East over Lincoln Northeast

Lincoln East was the 71-64 winner over Lincoln Northeast when they last played one another back in January of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Lincoln East Spartans came up short against the Lincoln Northeast Rockets on Thursday, falling 73-51. While losing is never fun, the Spartans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 137th, while the Rockets are ranked 38th).

Lincoln East's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Hudson Grau, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds. Those nine boards gave Grau a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jack Lowell, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 12 points.

Lazerek Houston was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 29 points and ten rebounds for Lincoln Northeast. That makes it four consecutive games in which Houston has scored at least a third of Lincoln Northeast's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Easton Switzer, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 15 points and four steals.

This is the second loss in a row for Lincoln East and nudges their season record down to 2-6. As for Lincoln Northeast, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.

Lincoln East didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 68-49 win against Bryan on the 4th. As for Lincoln Northeast, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 76-66 loss against Creighton Prep on the 4th.