Basketball Game Preview: Ellis Railroaders vs. Oakley Plainsmen

The Ellis Railroaders will take on the Oakley Plainsmen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Ellis has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

On Tuesday, Ellis earned a 64-54 win over Ness City.

Meanwhile, Oakley fought the good fight in their overtime match against Hoxie on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Indians by a score of 57-55. While losing is never fun, the Plainsmen can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 252nd, while the Indians are ranked 116th).

Ellis will need to focus on slowing down Carter Selensky, one of several Oakley players who made an impact when they last played. He posted 17 points. Those 17 points gave Selensky a new career-high. Manuel Mancia was another key player, putting up 14 points.

Ellis' victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 8-9. As for Oakley, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which has put a noticeable dent in their 7-11 record this season.

Ellis couldn't quite finish off Oakley in their previous meeting back in January and fell 48-46. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Oakley's Mason Jackson, who dropped a double-double with 19 points and 18 boards. Now that Ellis knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.