The Lincoln East Spartans will look to defend their home court on Saturday against the Papillion-LaVista South Titans at 5:15 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Monday, everything went Lincoln East's way against the Islanders as the Spartans made off with a 73-50 victory.
Lincoln East had a senior duo take command as Quin Weatherholt scored 23 points and Connor Johnson scored 11 points along with four steals. Johnson is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Carter Mick was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Meanwhile, Papillion-LaVista South had to endure a five-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They strolled past Lincoln Northeast with points to spare on Saturday, taking the game 56-41. Given Papillion-LaVista South's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 39th, while the Rockets are ranked 133rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Bryson Bahl, who scored 23 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. He has been hot recently, having posted 16 or more points the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Levi Webb, who scored 13 points.
Lincoln East's win bumped their record up to 7-8. As for Papillion-LaVista South, their victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 10-6.
Things could have been worse for Lincoln East, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 69-55 loss to the Titans when the teams last played back in February of 2023. Thankfully for Lincoln East, Maal Jal (who scored 18 points) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
