Preview: New Prairie Cougars vs. Jimtown Jimmies
The New Prairie Cougars will be home for the holidays to greet the Jimtown Jimmies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. New Prairie will be strutting in after a victory while Jimtown will be coming in after a loss.
New Prairie's six-game losing streak dating back to last season came to an end on Tuesday. They walked away with a 53-45 victory over Oregon-Davis. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest victory New Prairie has managed all season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead New Prairie to victory, but perhaps none more so than Devan Kalicki, who scored six points along with four steals. That's the first time this season that Kalicki grabbed two or more steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Colton Griffiths, who scored seven points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, this season hasn't been kind to Jimtown, who are still winless after their fifth match. They were just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 33-32 to NorthWood. Jimtown has struggled against NorthWood recently, as their matchup on Tuesday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
The losing side was boosted by Dylan Fey, who scored nine points along with eight rebounds. He scored a full 28.1% of Jimtown's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Bishop Williams, who scored four points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Jimtown were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
New Prairie's victory bumped their record up to 1-4. As for Jimtown, their loss was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 0-5.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: New Prairie have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 23.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Jimtown struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 22.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
New Prairie skirted past Jimtown 54-51 when the teams last played back in December of 2022. Does New Prairie have another victory up their sleeve, or will Jimtown turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
