Josh Rowan
C-H sports writer
The Lexington basketball teams faced tough tests in the last two contests of this year’s East-West shootout.
The girls’ took on a feisty Gering squad, but the girls had no problems handling the Bulldogs, shutting them down to just 18 points as the Maids rolled easily 52-18.
The Maids came out of the blocks in a hurry, taking a quick 15-6 lead after the first quarter. Gering had a terrible time trying to find an answer for the Minutmaids’ stingy defense, as Lexington took a commanding 30-12 lead at the half.
Lexington continued to shut down the Bulldogs, as the Maids’ outscored Gering 14-5 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 27 at the end of three.
The Maids have come close to shutting teams down to under 20 points twice this season, holding McCook to 24 points and Grand Island Central Catholic to 22 points. This time, they would succeed, holding Gering to just a single point in the fourth quarter, as the Maids coasted in the fourth quarter to the victory.
“The girls really played great on defense and executed very well on offense as well,” head coach Randy Carpenter said. “We had great balance and all of the girls’ contributed to the victory.”
Carpenter was right about the contributions, with 10 different Maids scoring points Friday night. Lexington was led by Sydney Seberger and Hailey Mandelko, each scoring 11 points. Senior Renee Otero complemented the pair nicely with seven points. Seniors Bridget Seberger and Katherine Longly each scored six points.
Gering was led by Brooke West, scoring four points.
The win brought Lexington’s record to 15-4 on the season, with one game still remaining in the Shootout. Gering fell to 4-15 overall.
The Gering boys made sure they didn’t get stung again Friday night.
The Bulldogs, who have lost a number of close games this season, including a heartbreaking 45-44 loss against North Platte on Thursday night, rallied for an exciting 37-34 win over Lexington on Friday in the second day of the East-West Shootout at Gering High School.
“Winning a game like this is huge,” Gering coach Randy Plummer said. “You can come close all you want, but until you win it, you have that monkey on your back, and you just can’t get him off. This season, we’ve lost a few close games. You can play really well, but when it comes to winning, that’s what you want to do.”
Held scoreless until the final minute of the first quarter, Gering put its opening mark on the contest with a 3-pointer from junior Gunnar Britsch.
Lexington continued to stay in control, though, and still led 20-14 even after Gering’s Chris Jackson nailed a trey just before halftime.
In the third period, Gering came out with renewed energy, putting together a 6-0 run to knot the contest at 20-20.
The Bulldogs then took their first lead of the game, 27-25, thanks to two free throws by senior Dalton Wademan with 1:56 left in the quarter.
After the teams spent the first 6 minutes of the final stanza matching each other shot-for-shot, a thrilling comeback seemed more possible for Gering as the Bulldogs’ Zach Smith, a sophomore, hit a jump shot to give his team a 33-32 lead.
In the last 3 minutes, Gering maintained its defensive intensity, limiting Lexington to just two more points as the Bulldogs held on for the victory.
 “Defense was the key tonight,” Plummer said. “Lexington has some great size and some great shooters, and they’re a quality team. We had to step up and play defense, which is what the boys did.”
Jackson led Gering (8-11) in scoring with eight points, including two treys.
Seven other Bulldogs reached the scoring column, bringing a smile to Plummer’s face.
“Everyone contributes,” he said. “We really don’t have to rely on just one guy. We got to play a lot of our guys tonight, and they all played well. We can play five guys from our bench, and they’ll do well. That’s a real luxury to have.”
Plummer hopes his squad maintains its momentum today when it collides against McCook in the final day of the Shootout. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Gering High School.
 “We need to remember this win in our game against McCook just 18 hours from this one,” Plummer said. “It will be a tough game, so we’ll do more of the same-fight, fight, fight. We’ll need to score more than 37 points in this next game, but defense will be key again.”
For Lexington, RJ Seberger had 16 points, followed by Aaron Luther with 12. Only two other Lexington players scored.
Minuteman coach Eric Young, whose team defeated Scottsbluff on Thursday, saw a key difference between his team’s play Thursday and Friday.
“Turnovers were crucial here, and we gave up an offensive rebound,” he said. “We executed last night [against Scottsbluff], but not tonight, and that’s what cost us the game. We have to get rid of [this loss] quickly. The kids are trying, but we just have to get the job done.”
The Shootout concluded Saturday with a key match-up taking place in Lexington. The Maids hosted third-ranked Alliance, who was led by their top scorer and Division 1 commit Jordan Hooper.
The game traded lead changes throughout much of the game, in the end, the Maids couldn’t fight their way back, as Alliance snatched the final game of the shootout 51-46.
The Maids came out swinging at the start, taking an early 9-5 lead close to the end of the first quarter. Hooper and the Bulldogs pounded the ball inside to creep closer to the Maids. Lexington led after one quarter 11-10.
Hooper kept streaking down the court, with no one able to keep up with the senior, as Allinace was able to take a two-point lead with second remaining in the half. Lexington was able to tie the game up before halftime as the teams went into the locker room tied at 21.
Both teams could never grab control of the ball game in the third quarter, but Lexington was able to outscore the Bulldogs 12-10 in the third quarter to take a 33-31 lead going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter turned out to be the most exciting as always, with both teams trading shots at each other, before Hooper and Alliance became too much at the end for the Maids, as Alliance made key free throws down the stretch to hold onto the five-point victory.
Lexington was led by Mandelko with 20 points, with Bridget Seberger chipping in with seven points. Sydney Seberger also contributed with six points.
Hooper dominated the game on both sides of the court, scoring 31 points. No other Alliance player scored in double-digits.
The Maids fell to 15-5 on the year with the loss, while Alliance recovers after losing to North Platte, and improves to 15-3.
The Lexington boys’ looked to end the Shootout on a high note, as they took on Alliance.
The game had to go to extra time to decide a winner, but in the end, Alliance pulled away late as Lexington was handed a 54-51 overtime loss Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs took an early 15-8 advantage, but the Minutemen were able to claw their way back and take a 23-20 lead at the break.
The Minutemen saw themselves down by four going into the final quarter, but was able to tie it up and send it to over time after Alliance missed both free throws on a double bonus situation.
During the overtime period, Lexington sent Alliance to the free throw line, where Alliance was able to convert six of eight free throws, while Lexington was outscored 11-8 in the extra period, as Alliance stole the victory.
The Minutemen shot 38 percent (22 of 58), with shooting only 5 of 8 from the free throw line.
Hawken Albus shot one of his better games of the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven boards. R.J. Seberger complemented Albus with 14 points and Andrew Rios scoring 12 points.
Mike Peltz led the Bulldogs with 25 points, while no other Alliance player scored in double figures.
Lexington fell to an even 10-10 on the season, while Alliance improved to 10-9 on the year.
Angela Scanlan of the Scottsbluff Star-Herald and Jon Soflin contributed to this report.

• Lexington Boys Basketball
• Lexington Girls Basketball
• Lexington Minutemen

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