Basketball Game Preview: Big Sandy Pioneers vs. Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks

Big Sandy and Chester-Joplin-Inverness are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2021, but not for long. The Big Sandy Pioneers will face off against the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Big Sandy is coming into the game hot, having won their last eight games.

Big Sandy will head into Saturday's match having proved themselves against Turner: Big Sandy took a 21-point loss the last time they faced off against Turner, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. Big Sandy sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 41-38 win over Turner on Saturday. Given the Pioneers' advantage in MaxPreps' Montana basketball rankings (they are ranked eighth, while the Tornadoes are ranked 69th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Chester-Joplin-Inverness beat Turner 56-49 on Friday.

Big Sandy's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-1. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.6 points per game. As for Chester-Joplin-Inverness, their win bumped their record up to 7-2.

Big Sandy was able to grind out a solid victory over Chester-Joplin-Inverness in their previous matchup on January 3rd, winning 51-38. The rematch might be a little tougher for Big Sandy since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.