Basketball Game Preview: Lapel Bulldogs vs. New Castle Trojans

The Lapel Bulldogs will take on the New Castle Trojans at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Lapel has 11 straight victories, New Castle has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Lapel is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Madison-Grant: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Lapel blew Madison-Grant out of the water with a 68-31 final score. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 25 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, New Castle was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 63-59 to Pendleton Heights.

Lapel will need to focus on slowing down Landon Thompson, one of several New Castle players who made an impact when they last played. He went 8-for-11 on his way to 18 points and eight boards. Thompson is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 58% in the last four games he's played. Cade Logston was another key player, putting up 11 points and seven assists.

Even though they lost, New Castle was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in November of 2024.

Lapel's win was their ninth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-5. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.0 points over those games. As for New Castle, their loss dropped their record down to 8-12.

Lapel didn't have too much breathing room in their game against New Castle in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, but they still walked away with a 57-51 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was New Castle's Colin Taylor, who went 9-for-19 en route to 25 points. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be easier for Lapel to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.