Basketball Game Preview: Osawatomie Trojans vs. Iola Mustangs

Osawatomie hasn't had much luck against Iola recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Osawatomie Trojans will welcome the Iola Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. Osawatomie knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past six matchups -- so hopefully Iola likes a good challenge.

Last Friday, Osawatomie didn't have too much trouble with West Franklin as they won 67-51.

Osawatomie can attribute much of their success to Jasper Sallee, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 12 boards, and Tucker Fennel, who went 8 for 16 en route to 19 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. The dominant performance also gave Sallee a new career-high in steals (eight). Walker Beets was another key player, putting up eight points.

Meanwhile, Iola was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They were two points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 53-51 heartbreaker at the hands of Santa Fe Trail. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 156th, while the Chargers are ranked 34th).

Osawatomie is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 8-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.7 points per game. As for Iola, their loss dropped their record down to 5-9.

Osawatomie came up short against Iola in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 65-55. Can Osawatomie avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.