Basketball Game Preview: Westview Wolverines vs. Kearney Bearcats

Two dominant guards in Tayvin Zephier-Murphy and Ben Johnson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Westview Wolverines will challenge the Kearney Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Friday, Westview was able to grind out a solid win over Elkhorn South, taking the game 80-69. Given the Wolverines' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked seventh, while the Storm are ranked 100th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Kearney waltzed into their contest on Saturday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They took down the Wildcats 71-57.

Westview better focus on containing Johnson and Jacob Webber as the pair were huge in Kearney's win. Johnson almost dropped a double-double with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Webber went 8-for-19 to rack up 24 points. Webber's evening made it 15 games in a row in which he has scored at least 15 points. Another player making a difference was Jake Kracl, who posted nine points and seven boards.

Westview's victory was their eighth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 20-2. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 80.3 points over those games. As for Kearney, their record now sits at 15-5.

Westview came up short against Kearney in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 51-42. Can Westview avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.