Basketball Recap: Pius X Drops Season-High Score on Papillion-Lavista

Thunderbolts

Team Score

01/17/25 vs Papillion-LaVista	69
01/14/25 vs Omaha Central	65
12/21/24 vs Sioux City East	65
12/14/24 vs Omaha Westside	65
12/07/24 vs Blue Springs South	65

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pius X). They blew past the Papillion-LaVista Monarchs, posting a 69-42 win. Given the Thunderbolts' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked fifth, while the Monarchs are ranked 71st), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Pius X had a senior duo take command as Hannah Bedient posted 12 points along with seven rebounds and three steals and Keeleigh Knobbe went 6 of 10 en route to 19 points. Another player making a difference was Ava Markowski, who had ten points in addition to five boards and three steals.

Papillion-LaVista's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jayda Richardson, who scored 16 points. Richardson has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. Taliyah Jackson was another key player, putting up 13 points and three steals.

Pius X pushed their record up to 13-2 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 30 points. As for Papillion-LaVista, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-7 record this season.

When Pius X and Papillion-LaVista next hit the court, they'll be up against teams who recently just can't seem to lose. Pius X will try to stop Lincoln Christian's 11-game winning streak when the meet at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Pius X is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.5 points per game this season. Meanwhile, Papillion-LaVista will square off against Omaha Westside and their four-game winning streak at 5:30 p.m. on January 24th.