Preview: St. Edward Beavers vs. Winside Wildcats
St. Edward and Winside are an even 3-3 against one another since December of 2017, but not for long. The St. Edward Beavers will head out on the road to face off against the Winside Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Saturday, St. Edward was the victim of a rough 54-30 defeat at the hands of Madison. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points St. Edward has scored all season.
Despite their loss, St. Edward saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Anthony Reader, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds and four steals, was perhaps the best of all. Reader scored a full 43.3% of St. Edward's points, the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Marcos Paez, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Winside's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight loss dating back to last season. They ended up on the wrong side of a tough 57-34 walloping at the hands of Bloomfield. While losing is never fun, Winside can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 213th, while Bloomfield is ranked 65th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Kaden Hunt, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds. Hunt scored a full 35.3% of Winside's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Schutt, who scored 13 points.
St. Edward's loss dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Winside, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 0-3.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: St. Edward have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 22.8 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Winside, though, as they've been averaging only 20 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Edward might still be hurting after the 57-36 defeat they got from Winside in their previous meeting back in December of 2022. Can St. Edward avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
