Basketball Game Preview: Crestview Knights vs. Jefferson Wildcats

The Crestview Knights will take on the Jefferson Wildcats in a tournament on Saturday. The timing is sure in Crestview's favor as the team sits on 20 straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Jefferson has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.

Crestview is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Antwerp: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Crestview blew Antwerp out of the water with a 57-23 final score. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matches by 26 points or more this season.

Ellie Kline continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 7-for-14 on her way to 22 points along with six steals and five assists. That makes it eight consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Crestview's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kennedy Crider, who almost dropped a double-double with ten points and nine boards.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Jefferson faced off against Paulding on Monday. The contest between Jefferson and Paulding didn't end well, with Jefferson falling 51-34. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 403rd, while the Panthers are ranked 175th).

Crestview is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 20-3 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.3 points over those games. As for Jefferson, their loss dropped their record down to 9-13.

Everything came up roses for Crestview against Jefferson when the teams last played back in January, as the squad secured a 58-29 win. Will Crestview repeat their success, or does Jefferson have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.