KEARNEY – Head coach Eric Young’s words to his boys’ basketball team going into the opening round of the B-5 District Tournament were made very clear.

 It’s do or die, win or your done. The Minutemen took those words to heart.

 Lexington used great shooting, along with sensational rebounding from its leaders to advance to the semi-finals after a 52-46 victory over Hastings Saturday evening.

 Both teams slugged it out in the first half, as Lexington led 13-11 after one quarter and only led by one at the half, at 26-25.

 The Minutemen however remembered those words from their fiery coach, as they opened up a six-point lead on the Tigers early in the third quarter.

 The Minutemen led by five after the third quarter at 41-36, then extended their lead to as much as nine points in the final quarter, but Hastings cut the lead down to six but couldn’t get any closer, as the Minutemen picked up their third win of the year over the Tigers and ending their season at 2-17 overall.

 Lexington was led by senior R.J. Seberger, pouring in a game-high 23 points, while grabbing 10 rebounds. Seberger was the only Minuteman to score in double figures on the evening, as senior Andrew Rios scored seven points and Tyler McKeone scored six points.

 The Minutemen shot a season-high 45 percent (20 of 44) from the field, while managing to shot 40 percent (2 of 5) from three-point range.

 Lexington crushed Hastings on the glass, out-rebounding the Tigers 31-13.

 “All in all we played pretty decent,” said Young. “We had our best shooting night of the season. That shows me that were in tune and ready to play.”

 The eight players that got minutes in Saturday night’s game all got points. Senior Tyler Tingelhoff managed two points while still being limited on minutes.

 The Minutemen advance in the tournament where the McCook Bison were awaiting a much anticipated rematch from earlier in the season. The Minutemen upset the Bison 42-36 on Jan. 29.

 The Bison were ready for Lexington the second time around, jumping on top early and never letting go of the lead, as McCook advanced to the district final with a 63-52 victory.

 McCook only led by four after one quarter at 15-11 but that was all the Bison needed, as Lexington failed to score over ten points in the second and third quarter.

 Lexington went from shooting one of its best games of the season to one of its worst the next night, shooting 19 of 69 (28 percent) from the field, including 3 of 12 (25 percent) from three point range.

 Rios and Tingelhoff paced the Minutemen late in the game, as they both finished with 12 points each. McKeone finished his game with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

 The loss ends the Minutemen’s season at 11-12 for the season, four more wins than last season and a solid class returning that will be hard to contain.

 The ladies were on the verge of making their first trip to the state tournament in eight years, as they took on Holdrege in a rematch from earlier in the season.

 The game had to go extra minutes to decide a winner, but a missed free throw was all it took as Holdrege upended the Minutemaids, sending them packing with a 50-49 overtime loss.

 Overtime did not play in Lexington’s favor this season, as the girls lost all three games (York, Kearney, Holdrege) that went past regulation.

 The Maids began by trailing the Dusters by two after the first quarter at 13-11. Junior Hailey Mandelko’s nine points led the second quarter for the Maids, as they grabbed the lead and led 24-22 at the half.

 After three quarters of play, the Maids clung to a 34-29 lead, as their state tournament hopes were only eight minutes away.

 However, the Dusters found a way to tie the game before the end of regulation.

 A questionable call with seconds left as Mandelko was called for an offensive charge as time expired sent the game into overtime.

 The overtime was a low-scoring affair as Holdrege managed to outscore Lexington 4-3 in the extra time. The game came down to a free-throw opportunity for Mandelko, where she missed the free basket, as Holdrege ran the time out to take the district title.

 “The girls gave an outstanding effort,” head coach Randy Carpenter said. “They deserved to win that game. I couldn’t be more proud of our team. It was a great year, the girls were just super to work with.”

 Lexington was led by Mandelko, with a game-high 28 points. Senior Bridget Seberger capped off a stellar senior season, scoring 11 points. Holdrege was led by Paige Hasty, scoring 21 points.

 The loss eliminates the Minutemaids from contention into the state tournament, with the Maids not receiving enough wild card points to squeeze into the playoffs.

 Lexington has not been to the state playoffs since 2001, when the Maids fell in the first round of the tournament, losing to Alliance 28-25.

 Jon Soflin contributed to this report.

• Lexington Boys Basketball
• Lexington Girls Basketball
• Lexington Minutemen

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