In a clash of state champions, the Class C1 No. 1 Lincoln Christian girls basketball team overcame an early deficit then held off a late comeback to take down Class C2 No. 3 Pender 56-47 Thursday night in Lincoln.
The back-to-back champion Crusaders (22-1) saw four players score in double figures as they handed the back-to-back-to-back champion Pendragons (22-2) their first loss to another Nebraska team in 381 days. Pender’s previous loss this season was to a team from South Dakota.
“I’m just so proud of our girls,” Christian coach Trey Pittenger told NebPreps. “We got down 13-3, and they just showed so much resolve. They just never quit. We made a few defensive adjustments … and then we just played a little bit more freely, started moving on offense a little bit better. What an environment; I don’t think you could put together a better high school basketball environment, so feeling pretty good right now.”
The two champion squads received the spotlight they deserved as Thursday night was a stand-alone date for the JV and varsity girls squads rather than a girl-boy doubleheader. Fans packed the gym to watch the regular season finale for both teams, with the varsity game tipping off shortly after 7 p.m.
“No boys after, right? Just the girls are the showcase,” Pittenger said. “It was cool. With the JV, the announcer announced the starting lineups; they don’t get that very often. Our fan base just showed up, and the band’s there right in their ear, all the stuff. It was way fun.”
Pender senior leader (and Fort Hays State commit) Hadley Walsh sparked an 11-0 run with two triples and a three-point play early in the first quarter to build that 13-3 lead. However, the Crusaders cut the deficit to four at the end of the first period and closed the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 26-23 lead into the break.
Earlier this season, Lincoln Christian got off to a similarly slow start, and it resulted in its first (and only) regular season loss, 59-49 to Class B No. 3 Lincoln Pius X. Players and coaches alike learned from that loss, the Crusaders’ first since Jan. 27, 2024.
“We fought back and actually took the lead against Pius, and then I just kind of let it keep going,” Pittenger said. “In this game, I was a little bit more strategic on timeouts, slowing things down, talking to the girls, kind of like the mindset of, ‘Hey, we’re starting the game fresh from here.’ We talk about trying to win every quarter, so we have the mindset of every quarter that starts over, it’s a brand-new game, and they’re starting to really embody that. That’s going to matter coming down the stretch.”
After struggling in the first half, senior leader Jessa Hueser, the team’s leading scorer, came alive in the third quarter with seven points as the Crusaders built a 41-35 lead heading into the fourth period. Christian continued to roll, extending the lead to nine with a 3-pointer from junior Sam Dearking midway through the fourth.
However, the Pendragons showed their championship mettle as Madalyn Dolliver answered with a 3 of her own to spark an 8-2 run, cutting Lincoln Christian’s lead to 48-45 with less than two minutes to play.
Needing a stop, Pender forced the Crusaders late into the shot clock, but senior Maci Pittenger put her head down, drove to the basket and dropped in a tough bucket at the rim to push the lead back to five with just under 90 seconds to play.
Lincoln Christian senior Jessa Hueser fires a 3-pointer against Pender. Photo by Jackson Luethje.
“I knew they weren’t going to go away, I knew that much,” Coach Pittenger said. “What we knew is we just needed to get to the hole. They were pressing us, they were playing more aggressive, and we needed to use that against them, take it to the hole and then just finish … Our points in the paint, I don’t know exactly what they were, but that’s what made the difference for us. Usually it’s our 3-pointers; points in the paint today.”
The Crusaders followed the bucket with a stop, then sealed the game at the free-throw line, going 6-for-6 with three different players hitting a pair. Lincoln Christian only shot 6-for-21 from 3 but scored 24 points inside the arc and another 14 at the foul line.
However, it was the other end of the floor that won the Crusaders the game as they forced 20 Pendragon turnovers. Their ability to switch everything, stick to shooters, anticipate what Pender wanted to do and send well-timed help on paint touches completely disrupted a Pendragon squad that typically passes the ball well and lives in the paint on drives.
“I’ve got a I’ve got a great coaching staff, and I’ve got another guy who doesn’t sit over there, it’s Jessa Hueser’s dad, who does all the scouting for us, and he had it pegged,” Coach Pittenger said. “He did a great job. We’ve got high-IQ girls, and that’s an equally important part of it. They went out there and did what we talked about doing, and it worked.”
Dearking led Christian with 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Freshman Greichaly Hohlen was right behind her with 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting, three assists and three steals. Hueser finished with 12 points and six rebounds while Maci Pittenger chipped in 12 points and two steals.
Offensive balance has been the theme for Lincoln Christian after graduating two off the best players in program history from last year’s 28-0 team in Mattea Kassebaum (19.5 points per game) and Kenadee Ailes (15.1 points and 11.4 rebounds per game). Lincoln Christian’s five starters are all averaging between 7.0 and 13.0 points this year, with three in double figures, to replace the lost firepower.
“We’ve talked about that a lot,” Coach Pittenger said. “I always knew that these girls had that in them, the offensive firepower. We’ve got a big freshman class and a couple of freshmen that are really stepping up huge, playing big minutes for us, and we didn’t quite know how that would work out. I was pretty confident we would have a nice team. I didn’t quite peg that we’d be 22-1, but hey, here we are.”
Pittenger is in his first season leading the Crusaders, accepting the job in late September. He had previously only coached club basketball but said his experience running a business has helped him lead the program.
“It’s taken up way more headspace than I anticipated, but it’s fun,” he said.
Making it even more fun is the opportunity to coach his daughters, Maci (11.5 pointers per game) and sophomore Lexi (10.7).
“I’ve coached Lexi since she was a second grader,” Trey said. “I haven’t coached Maci as much. I feel like I get on them more than anybody else. Maybe that’s a normal thing, but I am so proud of them. They are excellent basketball players. They play with such grit. I told Lexi, she kind of had a rougher game early on, but then down the stretch, she made some plays. They play with resolve and calm. It’s going to go fast, so I’m trying to savor every moment.”
The other bench featured a head coach leading his daughters as well, with Jason Dolliver coaching senior Madalyn and freshman Mayci.
Walsh led the Pendragons with 19 points, nine rebounds and two steals, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Crusaders. Coach Dolliver said Thursday’s experience should serve his team well as they head into the postseason.
“That’s why we played this game; we wanted to walk out of this gym better than we were when we walked in,” he said. “If we learn the right lessons from that game right there, we’re absolutely going to be better in the end. We don’t want to ever lose, but it happens when you play good teams and our goals are still intact.”
Lincoln Christian will host the C1-7 subdistrict, while Pender will host C2-4. Girls subdistrict play begins on Monday.
“We just knew that if we played our best, we can beat almost anyone in the state.”
Sam Dearking led (C1) No. 1 Lincoln Christian with 15 points and eight rebounds in the Crusaders’ 56-47 home win over (C2) No. 3 Pender. #nebpreps | @sdearking824 pic.twitter.com/36oioGak6X
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) February 13, 2026
