Basketball Preview: St. Mary's Cardinals vs. Boyd County Spartans
St. Mary and the Spartans are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2017, but not for long. The St. Mary's Cardinals just played last night, but they'll still head out to face the Boyd County Spartans at 6:15 p.m. on February 6th. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (St. Mary's has ten straight victories, the Spartans have four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
St. Mary's put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Monday. They claimed a resounding 64-18 win over Chambers/Wheeler Central on the road. Given St. Mary's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 34th, while the Renegades are ranked 221st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mya Hedstrom continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 20 points along with seven steals and five assists. Hedstrom is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Alissa Brabec was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with six assists and two steals.
Meanwhile, Boyd County struggled with assists last Saturday (the Falcons had eight more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Boyd County had to suffer through a rough 62-25 loss at the hands of the Falcons. Boyd County has struggled against the Falcons recently, as their contest last Saturday was their ninth consecutive lost matchup.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Paige Drueke, who scored six points along with five assists.
St. Mary's is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 17-2 record this season. As for Boyd County, they have been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-13 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's contest: St. Mary's have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 44% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Boyd County, though, as they've only made 27.1% of their threes this season. Given St. Mary's sizable advantage in that area, the Spartans will need to find a way to close that gap.
St. Mary's took their win against the Spartans when the teams last played back in February of 2023 by a conclusive 49-29. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Boyd County's Amelia Hoffman, who almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine rebounds. Now that she won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for St. Mary's to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
