The Omaha North Vikings had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.5 points), and they went ahead and made it seven on Tuesday. They strolled past Papillion-LaVista with points to spare, taking the game 68-52. Given Omaha North's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 27th, while the Monarchs are ranked 92nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mynor Strong was his usual excellent self, scoring 19 points along with five assists and four steals. He has been hot recently, having posted 16 or more points the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Deandre' Harper, who scored 16 points.
Despite the loss, Papillion-LaVista had strong showings from Brock Rahl, who scored 11 points, and Eric Ingwerson, who scored seven points along with 13 rebounds. Ingwerson is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down nine or more in the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Garin Maley, who scored six points along with five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Papillion-LaVista smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Omaha North only pulled down seven offensive rebounds.
Omaha North's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.7 points per game. As for Papillion-LaVista, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-7.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Omaha North will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the Bunnies at 7:15 p.m. on February 1st. Hopefully Benson focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 last Saturday. As for Papillion-LaVista, they will head out on the road to take on the Huskies at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Omaha Northwest focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Tuesday.
