Basketball Game Preview: Pius X Thunderbolts vs. Bellevue East Chieftains

The Pius X Thunderbolts will head out on the road to face off against the Bellevue East Chieftains at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Pius X sitting on four straight victories and Bellevue East on five.

Pius X is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Norris, who was ranked 23rd at the time (Pius X was ranked fourth). Pius X secured a 45-39 W over Norris on Friday.

Keeleigh Knobbe was her usual excellent self, going 6 for 13 en route to 20 points. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in blocks (two). Another player making a difference was Hannah Bedient, who posted eight points and ten rebounds.

Meanwhile, Bellevue East didn't have too much trouble with Omaha North on Saturday as they won 71-57.

Bellevue East found their leader in sophomore Tniyah Wilson-Smith, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 18 boards. Wilson-Smith also set a new season-high mark in blocks with five. Mya Weber was another key player, going 6 of 11 on her way to 13 points and five rebounds.

Bellevue East smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in ten consecutive contests.

Pius X's win was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-3. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.5 points per game. As for Bellevue East, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-3 record this season.