Basketball Recap: Bellevue West Gets the Win

After having lost a blowout in their previous game against Millard North, Bellevue West was happy to have turned things around on Thursday. They snuck past the Papillion-LaVista Monarchs with a 68-62 win. That result was just more of the same for these two, as the Thunderbirds also won the last time the pair played back in December of 2024.

Bellevue West found their leader in sophomore Keaton Melcher, who shot 67% from the field to rack up 21 points. Amari Smith was another key player, going 5-for-6 on his way to 11 points and six boards.

Bellevue West was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Papillion-LaVista only racked up nine.

Papillion-LaVista lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Demarcus McCarty, who dropped a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He has been hot, having posted eight or more boards the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Sam Boudreau, who shot 50% from the field en route to 17 points.

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Previous Games

12/11/25 - Away	68-62 W
12/12/24 - Home	67-50 W
02/13/24 - Home	76-53 W
12/06/22 - Away	86-50 W
12/10/21 - Away	60-45 W
+ 5 more games

Bellevue West now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Papillion-LaVista, their loss was their first of the season and also makes their record 2-1.

Coming up, Bellevue West won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Omaha Westside at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. As for Papillion-LaVista, they will also get right back to it: they'll square off against Lincoln East at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The Monarchs will need to watch out since the Spartans have now posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.