Preview: Johnson-Brock Eagles vs. Lewiston Tigers
Johnson-Brock is 9-1 against Lewiston since January of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Johnson-Brock Eagles will head out on the road to challenge the Lewiston Tigers at 6:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Johnson-Brock has 11 straight wins, Lewiston has 13 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
In what's become a running theme this season, Johnson-Brock gave their fans yet another huge victory on Wednesday. They blew past Tri County 60-25 on the road. Given Johnson-Brock's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 22nd, while Tri County is ranked 182nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Brooklyn Behrends and Taryn Ottemann were among the main playmakers for Johnson-Brock as the former scored 15 points along with six rebounds and two steals and the latter dropped a double-double on 25 points and 12 rebounds. Behrends is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last ten games she's played. Another player making a difference was Natalie Knippelmeyer, who scored four points along with nine rebounds and two steals.
Lewiston suffered their biggest defeat since December 9, 2023 on Monday. They were dealt a 47-17 defeat at the hands of Parkview Christian. Lewiston has struggled against Parkview Christian recently, as their contest on Monday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the defeat, Lewiston saw an underclassman step up: Justice Currie scored seven points along with seven steals and six rebounds. Currie has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Lewiston struggled to work together and finished the game with only two assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Parkview Christian posted ten assists.
Johnson-Brock's victory bumped their record up to 11-1. As for Lewiston, their loss was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 0-12.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's contest: Johnson-Brock have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 5 threes per game. It's a different story for Lewiston, though, as they've been averaging only 2.6 threes per game. Given Johnson-Brock's sizeable advantage in that area, Lewiston will need to find a way to close that gap.
Johnson-Brock beat Lewiston 40-33 when the teams last played back in February of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Lewiston's Katelyn Sanders, who scored 21 points along with three steals. Now that she won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for Johnson-Brock to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
