Basketball Game Preview: Northwest Grizzlies vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders

Northwest is 2-8 against Kapaun Mt. Carmel since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Northwest Grizzlies are taking a road trip to face off against the Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Northwest sitting on eight straight wins and Kapaun Mt. Carmel on nine.

Last Tuesday, Northwest was fully in charge, breezing past West 79-52. The Grizzlies have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine games by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Kapaun Mt. Carmel humbled West with a 68-30 victory. The Crusaders are also no stranger to big wins: their blowout on Friday was the 11th contest they've won by 20+ points this season.

Northwest better focus on containing Corbin Johnson and Blaise Dalian as the pair were huge in Kapaun Mt. Carmel's win. Johnson went 9-for-12 on his way to 24 points in addition to five assists and three steals, while Dalian dropped a double-double with 17 points and ten boards. Dalian continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Rocco Keller was another key player, putting up four points and five assists.

Kapaun Mt. Carmel pushed their record up to 14-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.0 points over those games. As for Northwest, their win bumped their record up to 15-3.

Northwest didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Kapaun Mt. Carmel when the teams last played back in January, but they still walked away with a 45-41 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Northwest since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.