The Lincoln North Star Navigators pushed their score all the way to 68 on Saturday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Gretna 72-68. While losing is never fun, Lincoln North Star can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 116th, while Gretna is ranked 29th).
Lincoln North Star's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lazerek Houston, who scored 18 points along with seven assists. Houston scored a full 26.5% of Lincoln North Star's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of JaKeyce Fowler, who scored 17 points along with five rebounds.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Gretna to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kade Cook, who scored 17 points along with five assists. The matchup was Cook's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Alex Wilcoxson, who scored 16 points along with seven rebounds.
Lincoln North Star's defeat dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Gretna, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Lincoln North Star will take on Lincoln East at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Lincoln East has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 188 points over their last three matchups. As for Gretna, they will be playing at home against Millard North on Thursday. Millard North is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road.
