The Elkhorn South Storm waltzed into their game on Thursday with two straight wins but they left with three. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 54-52 win over Gretna East. Winning is a bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 10 to 3 on the offensive boards, as Elkhorn South did.
Elkhorn South's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Lincoln Schwarz led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on 15 points and nine rebounds. Schwarz hasn't dropped below 15 points for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Aidan Skradis, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds.
Several Griffins players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Connor Levinson, who scored 12 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Levinson has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Drayke Brown, who scored 14 points.
Elkhorn South has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 8-11 record this season. As for Gretna East, they are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-13.
Elkhorn South will head out on the road to take on Burke at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Burke will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Nebraska Rankings (they are ranked 217th, while Elkhorn South is ranked 105th). As for Gretna East, they have the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome Lincoln High at 5:15 p.m. on February 10th. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are closely ranked in Nebraska (Gretna East is ranked 187th, while Lincoln High is ranked 165th).
