Basketball Recap: Elba Comes Up Short

Elba managed to keep up with Palmer until halftime on Thursday, but things quickly went downhill from there. The Elba Bluejays were outmatched by the Palmer Tigers and fell 60-26. The Bluejays have struggled against the Tigers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.

Elba's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Ethan Lange, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 15 rebounds, and Blake Barg, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 13 boards. The dominant performance gave Lange a new career-high in rebounds.

Even though they lost, Elba smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.

Palmer found their leader in sophomore Bruno Navarro, who posted 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Myers, who had 11 points.

Elba's loss dropped their record down to 1-9. As for Palmer, their victory was their first in the district, bumping their district record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-6.

Elba and Palmer could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps Nebraska Rankings. Elba (ranked 273rd) will meet Red Cloud (ranked 114th) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Elba has given up an average of 61.5 points per game this season, so hopefully the team got some defensive drills in this week. Similarly, Palmer (ranked 262nd) will meet East Butler (ranked 69th) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.