Bellevue East is 1-9 against the Thunderbirds since January of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Bellevue East Chieftains will head out on the road to square off against the Bellevue West Thunderbirds at 7:15 p.m. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Bellevue East has struggled recently with 11 losses in a row, while the Thunderbirds will arrive with 14 straight victories.
While Bellevue East couldn't quite beat the Links on Friday, the two-point margin was a huge improvement compared to the 31-point defeat they were dealt on Tuesday. Bellevue East fell just short of the Links by a score of 70-68. Bellevue East has struggled against the Links recently, as their match on Friday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Trey Tolbert, who scored 17 points along with two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Kael Walker, who scored 11 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, even though Lincoln Southeast scored an imposing 67 points on Saturday, Bellevue West still came out on top. Bellevue West secured a 72-67 W over the Knights. Given Bellevue West's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while the Knights are ranked 30th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Jaden Jackson, who scored 21 points along with two blocks. He hasn't dropped below 18 points for three straight games. Steven Poulicek was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
Bellevue East dropped their record down to 2-16 with that loss, which was their fifth straight at home. As for Bellevue West, their victory bumped their record up to 16-1.
Bellevue East was dealt a bruising 73-36 loss at the hands of the Thunderbirds in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. The matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Bellevue East was down 44-20.
