The Lakeview Vikings will head out on the road to challenge the Bennington Badgers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Lakeview has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Bennington will arrive with three straight victories.
Lakeview is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Central City last Thursday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Lakeview lost 68-48 to Central City. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 153rd, while the Bison are ranked 39th).
Hadley Hornung
| 02/13/25 @ Central City | 75% |
| 01/24/25 @ Schuyler | 63% |
| 01/02/25 vs Wayne | 57% |
| 01/21/25 vs Milford | 50% |
| 12/28/24 vs Schuyler | 50% |
Despite their loss, Lakeview saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Hadley Hornung, who went 6-for-8 from beyond the arc to rack up 20 points, was perhaps the best of all. The dominant performance also gave Hornung a new career-high in three-point shooting accuracy (75%). Jaelyn Mejstrik was another key player, putting up eight points and 11 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Lakeview smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Central City only seven offensive boards.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Bennington on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Duchesne out of the water with a 77-34 final score. The Badgers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 matchups by 22 points or more this season.
Bennington found their leader in freshman Macie Reiner, who went 8-for-11 en route to 18 points and five steals. Those 18 points set a new season-high mark for Reiner. The team also got some help courtesy of Reese Almquist, who posted nine points and five steals.
Bennington pushed their record up to 18-4 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 40 points. As for Lakeview, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-17.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lakeview has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Bennington struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
