Preview: Stuart Broncos vs. St. Mary's Cardinals
The Stuart Broncos will head out on the road to take on the St. Mary's Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Stuart sitting on seven straight victories and St. Mary's on four.
In what's become a running theme this season, Stuart gave their fans yet another huge victory last Tuesday. They beat Elgin/Pope John by the very same score they won with last week: 63-41. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Stuart has posted since December 9, 2023.
Stuart's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Gavynn Mustin led the charge by scoring 17 points along with six steals. Mustin is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last seven games he's played. Another player making a difference was Kayde Ramm, who scored 21 points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, St. Mary's put the finishing touches on their sixth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They claimed a resounding 83-43 victory over Creighton at home. St. Mary's pushed the score to 61-30 by the end of the third, a deficit Creighton had no chance of recovering from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Mary's to victory, but perhaps none more so than Gage Hedstrom, who scored 17 points along with six assists and five rebounds. Hedstrom has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Logan Brabec was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds.
Stuart's record now sits at 11-3. As for St. Mary's, they pushed their record up to 10-3 with that win, which was their tenth straight at home.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Stuart have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like St. Mary's struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Stuart strolled past St. Mary's in their previous meeting back in January of 2023 by a score of 58-44. The rematch might be a little tougher for Stuart since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
