Basketball Game Preview: Hoopeston Cornjerkers vs. Armstrong Trojans

Hoopeston has gone 10-0 against Armstrong recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Hoopeston Cornjerkers are taking a road trip to square off against the Armstrong Trojans at 6:00 p.m. Hoopeston is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.4 points per game this season.

Hoopeston is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Iroquois West: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Hoopeston blew Iroquois West out of the water with a 69-35 final score. The Cornjerkers pushed the score to 58-29 by the end of the third, a deficit the Raiders had little chance of recovering from.

Nick Cardenas and Brayden Walder were among the main playmakers for Hoopeston as the former went 6 for 8 from beyond the arc en route to 24 points along with six rebounds and three steals and the latter went 5 of 10 on his way to 16 points and eight assists. Those 24 points gave Cardenas a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Zach Huchel, who posted 12 points.

Hoopeston smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Armstrong waltzed into their game on Tuesday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They walked away with a 54-47 win over the Warriors.

Armstrong pushed their record up to 19-8 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.3 points per game. As for Hoopeston, their win bumped their record up to 16-8.

Hoopeston skirted past Armstrong 59-56 when the teams last played back in February of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Hoopeston since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.