Basketball Game Preview: West Holt Huskies vs. Elkhorn Valley Falcons

The West Holt Huskies will take on the Elkhorn Valley Falcons in a tournament on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Elkhorn Valley will be up against a hot West Holt team: the squad just extended their winning streak to five. West Holt strolled past Laurel-Concord-Coleridge with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 61-44. Given the Huskies' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 50th, while the Bears are ranked 199th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead West Holt to victory, but perhaps none more so than Andrew Rentschler, who went 7 for 12 en route to 19 points and six rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Zach Hooey, who went 6 of 10 on his way to 18 points.

West Holt smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Elkhorn Valley got the win against Hartington-Newcastle on Tuesday by a conclusive 63-41.

Elkhorn Valley's win came from a few key players West Holt will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kellyn Ollendick, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 13 boards. He has been hot recently, having posted nine or more rebounds the last four times he's played. Korbin Werner was another key player, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 13 boards.

West Holt has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.3 points per game. As for Elkhorn Valley, their win bumped their record up to 13-4.

West Holt came up short against Elkhorn Valley when the teams last played back in January, falling 56-46. Can West Holt avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.