Basketball Game Preview: Licking Valley Panthers vs. Newark Catholic Green Wave

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Previous Games

12/09/23 - Home	62-31 W
12/12/22 - Away	51-40 W
12/15/21 - Home	55-52 W
02/04/20 - Home	55-46 W
01/24/19 - Away	72-60 W
+ 5 more games

Licking Valley is 8-2 against Newark Catholic since December of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Licking Valley Panthers just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Newark Catholic Green Wave at 6:45 p.m. Licking Valley will be strutting in after a victory while Newark Catholic will be coming in after a loss.

On Tuesday, Licking Valley beat Utica 48-39. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 191st, while the Redskins are ranked 708th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Newark Catholic ended up a good deal behind Granville on Tuesday and lost 62-44. The defeat continues a trend for the Green Wave in their matchups with the Blue Aces: they've now lost eight in a row.

Licking Valley has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.5 points per game. As for Newark Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 4-12.

Everything came up roses for Licking Valley against Newark Catholic when the teams last played back in December of 2023, as the team secured a 62-31 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Licking Valley since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.