Basketball Game Preview: Speedway Sparkplugs vs. Cascade Cadets

Speedway and Cascade are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2016, but not for long. The Speedway Sparkplugs will face off against the Cascade Cadets at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Speedway has struggled recently with 11 defeats in a row, while Cascade will arrive with four straight victories.

Speedway is headed into the contest having just suffered their closest loss since December 27, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Triton Central by a score of 46-44. While losing is never fun, the Sparkplugs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 383rd, while the Tigers are ranked 175th).

Drew Matelic

Points

02/28/25 vs Triton Central	18
02/21/25 @ Indianapolis Scecina Memorial	17
02/18/25 vs Tri-West Hendricks	18

Despite the defeat, Speedway got top-tier performance from Drew Matelic, who dropped a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards. Matelic's big performance that evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least 17 points. Another player making a difference was Camden Bennett, who posted seven points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, it's playoff time, and Cascade had no trouble coming through when it counted. They came out on top against Owen Valley by a score of 63-52 on Tuesday.

Speedway's loss dropped their record down to 2-19. As for Cascade, their win bumped their record up to 15-8.

Speedway came up short against Cascade in their previous meeting back in January, falling 66-62. Can Speedway avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.