HOLDREGE – Many believed that this game could set the tone for the rest of the season. Many believed that this game could be the district final. The two teams didn’t disappoint.
The Lexington basketball teams took to the road Saturday as they faced rival Holdrege in a pivotal district game.
The girls game was the highlight of the night as both teams came in with good records, looking to pull the upset on each other. Lexington got the best of last year’s state runner-up, using a clutch second half to pull away and defeat the Dusters 63-55.
Holdrege started out the game by pulling in front early, which forced head coach Randy Carpenter to use a timeout.
After the timeout, the Maids seemed to relax a little more, as Holdrege held a three to five point lead for much of the first half. The Duster led the Maids 17-10 at the end of the first quarter, but that was the only quarter that Holdrege won all night.
Lexington started to hit better from the field, winning the second quarter 19-15, trailing by only three points, 32-29, at the half.
The second half was critical for Lexington, as it was just the third time all season that Lexington trailed going into the second half.
Hailey Mandelko found it tough most of the night to get shots to go in, but another Minutemaid hit clutch shots down the stretch.
Senior Katherine Longly  scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half to help propel Lexington into the lead. The lead never was relinquished after that.
“Katherine had a huge second half for us,” Carpenter said. “All those kids, we had four girls who scored in double figures for us, it’s just a great win.”
Lexington outscored Holdrege 15-12 in the third quarter, then in the fourth quarter, Lexington turned on the jets.
Junior Sydney Seberger and Longly  teamed up to pull ahead of Holdrege and stay ahead to take the big win.
The win for Lexington was the first in five years over the Dusters.
“I can’t remember the last time we beat Holdrege,” said Carpenter. “We just needed to relax and play our game and our girls played great in the second half.”
Holdrege head coach Trent Benjamin wasn’t afraid to let everything go against the Minutemaids Saturday night.
“We had about 45 seconds slip there in the second quarter,” Benjamin said. “I wanted to throw everything in book at them to see how they would react to it.”
The Minutemaids had one of their best shooting nights all season long, shooting 24 of 46 (52 percent) from the field, only shooting 2 of 9 (22 percent) from the three point line.
Lexington was sent to the line quite a few times, going only 13 of 21 (62 percent) from the charity stripe.
Holdrege dominated the boards all night as they out-rebounded the Minutemaids 26-18.
The four Maids that scored in double figures are the most all season long for Lexington.
Longly and Seberger led with 14 points each. Hailey Mandelko scored 12 points and Bridget Seberger contributed with 11 points. Senior Renee Otero also had six points for the Maids in the win.
For Holdrege they were led by junior Paige Hasty, who scored a game high 31 points in the loss. Pasty looks to be a force this season and could be a possible all-state selection in her senior season.
Junior Lauren Hoeft also helped with eight points.
With this game, many people could see these two teams duke it out in the district tournament for a shot at a state berth.
Carpenter believes that this is the win that girls needed.
“It’s not necessarily an advantage to play Hold-rege early, but it does give the girls a lot of confidence,” Carpenter said. “If we would’ve lost, then we would’ve said ‘Here we go again,’ we lost to Holdrege.”
The win brings Lexington to 8-3 on the season, while Holdrege falls to 8-3 overall.
The boys’ game proved to be just as exciting, as the Lexington-Holdrege match-up has always been a physical rivalry.
The game went back and forth, with both teams using runs to keep themselves ahead. However, in the end, Lexington had more gas in the tank, as they held on to win another close game, defeating the Dusters 50-47.
Holdrege started by building an early lead, but the Minutemen clawed their way back in to the contest, trailing by only three after one quarter at 15-12. The second quarter was pretty even for both teams, as a three pointer by Hawken Albus tied the game up at 23 going into the half.
The third quarter Holdrege pulled out in front again, but Lexington kept them in the game, making clutch free throw shots, trailing 36-34 going into the fourth quarter.
The Minutemen seemed to play their most physical defense all season long in the final quarter, as Holdrege started sending Lexington to the free throw line, where Lex made the shots necessary to escape with the three point win.
Lexington had three players in double figures, as R.J. Seberger led the team with 14 points, also a game-high. Albus scored 13 points on the night, with Andrew Rios scoring 12.
Lexington shot 40 percent from the field on the evening; one of it’s better shooting nights of the season, while shooting just 64 percent from the free throw line.
“We knew we were going to get a good shot,” Head coach Eric Young. “We are starting to learn how to be in pressure situations. You don’t always like to win close games, but when you’re there, they know how to react in those situations.”
Lexington improves to 6-5 on the season, the first time being over .500 since the GNAC tournament. Holdrege drops to 2-9 overall.
Lexington comes home for their next contest, as they take on another rival in Cozad. The Haymakers are currently on a nine-game losing streak, but Young believes that they will still be tough to beat.
“We know we are probably going to get their best game of the year,” Young said. “In a rivalry game anything can happen, so we are going to have to come out and execute and  play sound defense.”

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