The Grand Island Islanders will venture away from home to challenge the Lincoln Southeast Knights at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Grand Island has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Lincoln Southeast will arrive with four straight wins.
Last Saturday, Grand Island came up short against Lincoln High and fell 64-51.
| 12/28/24 @ Lincoln High | 11 |
| 12/07/24 vs Columbus | 10 |
| 12/19/23 vs North Platte | 7 |
| 01/04/24 vs Kearney | 7 |
| 02/24/24 @ Kearney | 7 |
The losing side was boosted by Babur Choul, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. Those 11 rebounds gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Victor Fisher Jr, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds.
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 Lincoln Southeast on Saturday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Norfolk out of the water with a 69-36 final score. The Knights pushed the score to 48-26 by the end of the third, a deficit the Panthers had little chance of recovering from.
Grand Island better focus on containing Chewy Thoat and Mari Shumaker as the pair were huge in Lincoln Southeast's win. Thoat went 7 of 15 on his way to 19 points and five rebounds, while Shumaker posted ten points along with eight boards and four steals. Shumaker is crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least three every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Prospedi Mukendi, who had seven points.
Lincoln Southeast was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Grand Island's defeat dropped their record down to 2-6. As for Lincoln Southeast, their record now sits at 5-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Grand Island has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Lincoln Southeast struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Grand Island lost to Lincoln Southeast on the road by a decisive 63-46 margin in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Can Grand Island avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
