Basketball Game Preview: Melissa Cardinals vs. Walnut Grove Wildcats

A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Melissa Cardinals take on the Walnut Grove Wildcats at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday... Melissa will be strutting in after a victory while Walnut Grove will be coming in after a loss.

Melissa will bounce into Tuesday's matchup after beating McKinney North, who they had gone 0-8 against in their eight prior meetings. Melissa sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 39-36 win over McKinney North on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Cardinals have posted since December 12, 2023.

Walnut Grove has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 38-34 heartbreaker at the hands of Anna.

Melissa has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 22-9 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.6 points per game. As for Walnut Grove, their defeat dropped their record down to 23-9.

Melissa didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Walnut Grove in their previous matchup back in January, but they still walked away with a 38-32 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Melissa since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.