Basketball Game Preview: Wood River Eagles vs. Minden Whippets

The Wood River Eagles will take on the Minden Whippets at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The timing isn't great for Wood River: they have been struggling with three straight losses at home, while Minden has snatched up nine consecutive wins on the road dating back to last season.

It was a Battle of the Birds when Wood River challenged Ravenna on Friday. Wood River came out on top against Ravenna by a score of 40-27. The Eagles haven't had any issues with the Bluejays recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Sidney Frear went supernova for Wood River, going 8 of 12 en route to 20 points and five rebounds. What's more, Frear also posted a 67% shooting accuracy, which is the highest she's posted since back in February of 2024. Lainey Paulk was another key player, putting up nine points and seven boards.

Wood River was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ravenna only posted four assists.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Minden's strategy against Adams Central on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Minden blew Adams Central out of the water with a 62-28 final score. The Whippets have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 12 matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Minden's victory bumped their record up to 20-2. As for Wood River, their win bumped their record up to 6-15.

Wood River might still be hurting after the 55-32 loss they got from Minden in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Minden's Myla Emery, who went 6 for 14 to rack up 21 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Now that Wood River knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.