Basketball Preview: Antwerp Archers vs. Hicksville Aces
Antwerp has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They and the Hicksville Aces will face off at 7:30 p.m. on February 9th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Antwerp will be strutting in after a win while the Aces will be coming in after a defeat.
Antwerp only won by three when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 24-point they dealt the Locomotives on Saturday. Everything went Antwerp's way against the Locomotives as the Archers made off with a 65-41 victory. Given Antwerp's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 173rd, while the Locomotives are ranked 620th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Landon Brewer continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 12 rebounds. He is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 17 or more in the last seven games he's played. Carson Altimus was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Hicksville's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their ninth straight defeat. They suffered a rough 65-40 defeat at the hands of Crestview. Hicksville was down 55-25 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Antwerp's win was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.0 points per game. As for Hicksville, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-15.
Everything went Antwerp's way against the Aces when the teams last played back in December of 2023 as the Archers made off with a 68-45 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Hicksville's Garrett Turnbull, who scored 21 points. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Antwerp still be able to contain Turnbull? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
