Basketball Game Preview: Ogallala Indians vs. Cozad Haymakers

vs

Previous Games

01/10/25 - Home	65-63 W
02/22/24 - Home	59-61 L
01/27/24 - Neutral	62-52 W
01/05/24 - Away	60-52 W
01/06/23 - Home	72-45 W
+ 5 more games

Ogallala is 9-1 against Cozad since February of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Ogallala Indians will take on the Cozad Haymakers in a tournament on Saturday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Ogallala sitting on 17 straight victories and Cozad on seven.

Ogallala saw some tournament action on Friday. They came out on top against Gothenburg by a score of 58-48. Given the Indians' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked fourth, while the Swedes are ranked 71st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Cozad beat Holdrege 69-58 on Friday.

Cozad's win came from a few key players Ogallala will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Noah Shoemaker, who went 5 of 11 en route to 13 points along with six assists and three steals. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in assists. Chayden Hoffmaster was another key player, going 9 for 16 on his way to 18 points and five rebounds.

Cozad has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-2 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.3 points per game. As for Ogallala, their win bumped their record up to 17-0.

Ogallala came out on top in a nail-biter against Cozad in their previous matchup back in January, sneaking past 65-63. The rematch might be a little tougher for Ogallala since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.