Basketball Game Preview: Mater Dei Knights vs. Mascoutah Indians

The Mater Dei Knights will face off against the Mascoutah Indians at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Mascoutah took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Mater Dei, who comes in off a win.

Mater Dei's tournament run continued when they took on Metro-East Lutheran on Wednesday. Mater Dei enjoyed a cozy 47-30 victory over Metro-East Lutheran.

Mater Dei's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Gavin Peppenhorst led the charge by going 6 for 10 on his way to 12 points along with seven rebounds and four blocks. Those four blocks gave Peppenhorst a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jared Hemker, who posted 13 points and seven boards.

Meanwhile, Mascoutah was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They took a 56-46 hit to the loss column at the hands of Breese Central.

Mater Dei is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.6 points per game. As for Mascoutah, their loss dropped their record down to 8-6.

Mater Dei couldn't quite finish off Mascoutah in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 and fell 41-38. Can Mater Dei avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.