Basketball Game Preview: Winside Wildcats vs. Cedar Bluffs Wildcats

Winside is on a nine-game streak of home losses dating back to last season, Cedar Bluffs an eight-game streak of away losses, but someone's luck will change on Thursday. We've got a battle between Wildcats coming up. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

Winside is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took a 69-63 hit to the loss column at the hands of Ainsworth. The Wildcats were up 50-34 in the third quarter but couldn't hold on to the lead.

Winside might have lost, but man, Caleb Offner was a machine: he dropped a double-double with 29 points and 19 rebounds. What's more, Offner also posted a 78% shooting accuracy, which is the highest he's achieved since back in February of 2024. Another player making a difference was Matthew Gubbels, who posted eight points and 11 boards.

Even though they lost, Winside was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3.9 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 8.4.

Meanwhile, Cedar Bluffs ended up a good deal behind Parkview Christian on Thursday and lost 65-48. That's two games in a row now that the Wildcats have lost by exactly 17 points.

Winside's loss dropped their record down to 1-20. As for Cedar Bluffs, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-16.

Everything came up roses for Winside against Cedar Bluffs when the teams last played back in February of 2024, as the team secured a 59-25 victory. In that game, Winside amassed a halftime lead of 32-11, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.