Bellevue West is on a four-game streak of home wins, while the Knights are on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Bellevue West Thunderbirds will take on the Lincoln Southeast Knights at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday. Bellevue West has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,234 points over their last 16 contests.
A well-balanced attack led Bellevue West over the Bearcats in every quarter on their way to victory on Saturday. Bellevue West came out on top against the Bearcats by a score of 74-63. Given Bellevue West's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while the Bearcats are ranked 41st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Bellevue West's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Robby Garcia led the charge by scoring 20 points along with five rebounds. Jaden Jackson was another key contributor, scoring 18 points.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Southeast stacked a seventh blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They claimed a resounding 73-43 victory over Norfolk at home. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Lincoln Southeast had established a 27 point advantage.
Lincoln Southeast got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Mike Ngoyi out in front who scored 15 points along with two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Taye Moore, who scored 11 points along with two steals.
Bellevue West's victory bumped their record up to 15-1. As for Lincoln Southeast, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-4 record this season.
Saturday's game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Bellevue West have been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 50.1% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Lincoln Southeast struggles in that department as they've made 47% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Bellevue West strolled past the Knights when the teams last played back in February of 2023 by a score of 75-57. Will Bellevue West repeat their success, or do the Knights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
