Basketball Game Preview: Santee Warriors vs. Niobrara/Verdigre Cougars

Santee and Niobrara/Verdigre are an even 3-3 against one another since January of 2015, but not for long. The Santee Warriors will challenge the Niobrara/Verdigre Cougars at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Santee is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.8 points per game this season.

Santee is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Flandreau Indian: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Santee blew Flandreau Indian out of the water with an 81-43 final score. With the Warriors ahead 51-25 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

It was another big night for Miley Pike, who dropped a triple-double on 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 steals. The contest was her fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Aubrinee Tuttle, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten steals.

Santee smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've posted since back in December of 2023.

Meanwhile, Niobrara/Verdigre didn't have too much trouble with Ainsworth on Thursday as they won 50-34. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 103rd, while the Bulldogs are ranked 226th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Niobrara/Verdigre has also been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. As for Santee, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 10-4.

Santee beat Niobrara/Verdigre 56-43 when the teams last played back in December of 2019. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Niobrara/Verdigre's Makenna Guenther, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 17 boards. Now that she won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for Santee to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.