Basketball Game Preview: Lincoln North Star Navigators vs. Millard South Patriots

Lincoln North Star is 1-6 against Millard South since December of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Lincoln North Star Navigators will host the Millard South Patriots at 5:30 p.m.

Lincoln North Star is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Millard North, who was ranked fifth at the time (Lincoln North Star was ranked 19th). Lincoln North Star was just a bucket shy of victory on Saturday and fell 45-44 to Millard North.

Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Millard South over Benson in every quarter on their way to victory on Saturday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Millard South blew Benson out of the water with a 67-29 final score. The Patriots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 20 points or more this season.

Millard South's win came from a few key players Lincoln North Star will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Abbi Durow, who went 7-for-15 to rack up 21 points. She is becoming a predictor of Millard South's success: when she posts at least 15 points the team is 11-3 (and 3-5 when she doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Aubrey Carder, who went 5-for-11 en route to 14 points.

Millard South has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.6 points over those games. As for Lincoln North Star, their loss dropped their record down to 15-5.

Lincoln North Star strolled past Millard South in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 by a score of 55-36. Will Lincoln North Star repeat their success, or does Millard South have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.