Bellevue East hasn't had much luck against Papillion-LaVista recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Bellevue East Chieftains will venture away from home to challenge the Papillion-LaVista Monarchs at 5:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Papillion-LaVista will be up against a hot Bellevue East squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Bellevue East blew past Burke, posting a 59-15 victory. Given the Chieftains' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 12th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 257th), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/28/25 vs Burke | 2 |
| 01/23/25 vs Lincoln East | 4 |
| 01/21/25 @ Buena Vista | 2 |
| 01/16/25 vs Westview | 2 |
| 01/14/25 @ Lincoln Southwest | 3 |
Bellevue East found their leader in sophomore Tniyah Wilson-Smith, who went 8 for 12 on her way to 17 points and six rebounds. Wilson-Smith is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last five games she's played. Janessa Mbatia also deserves some recognition as she scored her first points of the season.
Bellevue East smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in eight consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Papillion-LaVista). They blew past Omaha South 84-11 on Tuesday. The Monarchs pushed the score to 75-10 by the end of the third, a deficit the Packers had no chance of recovering from.
Bellevue East better keep an eye on Rease Murtaugh. She was instrumental in Papillion-LaVista's win, going 9 of 17 en route to 21 points along with seven boards and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Taliyah Jackson, who went 5 for 8 on her way to 10 points in addition to six rebounds and five assists.
Bellevue East's record is now 12-3. As for Papillion-LaVista, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 8-8.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Bellevue East hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 60 points per game. However, it's not like Papillion-LaVista struggles in that department as they've been averaging 60.2 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Bellevue East lost to Papillion-LaVista on the road by a decisive 54-38 margin when the teams last played back in December of 2023. Can Bellevue East avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
