Basketball Game Preview: East Butler Tigers vs. Osceola Bulldogs

East Butler and Osceola are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The East Butler Tigers will square off against the Osceola Bulldogs at 4:45 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

East Butler is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering McCool Junction just ended the team's 16-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell to the Mustangs 53-49. The loss put an end to the Tigers' undefeated start to the season.

Meanwhile, Osceola had to suffer through a 75-37 loss at the hands of Cross County. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 154th, while the Cougars are ranked 49th).

Having lost for the first time this season, East Butler fell to 16-1. As for Osceola, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-8.

East Butler came out on top in a nail-biter against Osceola in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, sneaking past 59-56. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Osceola's Kelby Neujahr, who posted 21 points along with six assists and five rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will East Butler still be able to contain Neujahr? There's only one way to find out.