Basketball Game Preview: South Loup vs. Ansley/Litchfield Spartans

South Loup will take on the Ansley/Litchfield Spartans at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in South Loup's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last three matches.

On Tuesday, South Loup strolled past Arcadia/Loup City with points to spare, taking the game 61-47.

Meanwhile, Ansley/Litchfield earned a 48-39 win over Wilcox-Hildreth on Saturday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Spartans.

South Loup better keep an eye on Luke Bailey. He was instrumental in Ansley/Litchfield's win, going 6 for 7 en route to 17 points along with five boards and four steals. That makes it 14 consecutive games in which Bailey has scored at least a third of Ansley/Litchfield's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Landon Schulte, who posted 12 points.

South Loup pushed their record up to 10-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.3 points per game. As for Ansley/Litchfield, the win got them back to even at 7-7.

South Loup lost to Ansley/Litchfield at home by a decisive 44-26 margin when the teams last played back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bailey, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and ten rebounds. Now that South Loup knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.