Navigators
| 02/06/25 @ Bellevue West | 52 |
| 02/04/25 vs Omaha Central | 66 |
| 02/01/25 vs Lincoln Northeast | 69 |
| 01/30/25 vs Lincoln Southwest | 66 |
| 01/29/25 vs Grand Island | 85 |
| + 16 more games |
The Lincoln North Star Navigators will challenge the Elkhorn South Storm at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Lincoln North Star is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 66.3 points per game this season.
Lincoln North Star is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nebraska's top teams: Bellevue West, who was ranked 25th at the time (Lincoln North Star was ranked 19th). Lincoln North Star lost to Bellevue West on the road by a 67-52 margin on Thursday.
Despite the loss, Lincoln North Star saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Jordan Castor went 7 for 17 to rack up 19 points and six assists. That was a full 36.5% of Lincoln North Star's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of J'Shawn Afuh, who had 11 points.
Meanwhile, Elkhorn South posted their biggest win since January 7th on Friday. They put the hurt on Burke with a sharp 83-57 victory. The win continues a trend for the Storm in their matchups with the Bulldogs: they've now won six in a row.
Lincoln North Star better keep an eye on Cooper Mroczek. He was instrumental in Elkhorn South's win, dropping a double-double on 32 points and 11 boards. Another player making a difference was Lincoln Schwarz, who went 5 of 9 en route to 15 points in addition to eight rebounds and six assists.
Elkhorn South smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in three consecutive matches.
Lincoln North Star's defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 16-5. As for Elkhorn South, their victory bumped their record up to 6-12.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's contest: Lincoln North Star has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 8 three-pointers per game. However, it's not like Elkhorn South struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1 three-pointers. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lincoln North Star came up short against Elkhorn South when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 64-56. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Schwarz, who went 9 for 12 on his way to 27 points and seven boards. Now that Lincoln North Star knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
