WAYNE, Neb. – The Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout is underway, with teams from across Nebraska converging on Rice Auditorium.

Pierce started off the day with a pair of wins over Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.

Skylar Scholting and Morgan Moeller combined for 42 points in the Bluejays’ 51-41 girls win over the Bears. Scholting led the way with a game-high 22. Haley Christensen led LCC with 13 points.

Iowa State football signee Ben Brahmer scored 27 points, while Abram Scholting added 17 in the Bluejays’ boys win over LCC. Jake Rath led the Bears with 10 points.

Pierce outscored the Bears 35-18 over the final two quarters to pull away for a 58-37 victory.

The Pender girls used a big third quarter to knock off Hartington Cedar Catholic, 45-30. Maya Dolliver scored a game-high 21 points in the Pendragons’ victory. Pender trailed 17-16 at half before outscoring the Trojans 20-4 in the third fram.

Makenna Noecker and Lauren Bernecker combined to score 17 of Cedar Catholic’s 20 points.

The Cedar Catholic boys remained undefeated with a dominant 74-21 win over Pender.

Five different Trojans scored in double figures, led by Jaymison Cattau’s 12 points. Aiden Beckman paced Pender with seven points.

Auburn, which was making the longest trip out of the eight schools in the tournament, got a pair of wins over Winnebago.

The Bulldogs raced out to a 27-6 halftime lead in the girls game en route to a 50-29 victory.

Sydney Binder scored a game-high 13 points, leading three Bulldogs in double figures. Tressa Big Bear led Winnebago with 12 points.

In a matchup of perennial state title contenders, the Auburn boys claimed a 67-46 win on the strength of Maverick Binder’s big game.

Binder scored 32 points, the most of any player on the day, to lead three Bulldogs in double digits.

Dynami Berridge Tyrese Lovejoy paced Winnebago with 15 each.

Hometown Wayne got a pair over victories over Plainview to wrap up the day.

Despite a strong final quarter by the Pirates, the Blue Devil girls held on for a 45-43 win.

Brooklyn Kruse and Frantzdie Barner combined for 30 of the Blue Devils’ 45 points, including a team-high 18 from Kruse. Abigail Kromarek scored a game-high 19 points for the Pirates.

Four different Blue Devils scored in double digits in Wayne’s 82-36 boys win over Plainview. Carter Junck led Wayne with a game-high 21 points. Spencer Hillie and Jacson King led Plainview with 10 points each.

In the girls’ consolation round, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge and Hartington Cedar Catholic will meet in the Thursday’s first game, followed by Winnebago and Plainview.

In the girls’ winners’ bracket, Pierce and Pender will meet in the afternoon, while Wayne and Auburn will meet in the evening.

On the boys side, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge and Pender will meet in the consolation bracket. Winnebago and Plainview will meet on the other side of the boys’ consolation bracket.

The nighttime winners bracket games will feature Pierce vs. Cedar Catholic and Auburn vs. Wayne.