Basketball Game Preview: Perkins County Plainsmen vs. South Platte Blue Knights

The Perkins County Plainsmen will take on the South Platte Blue Knights at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Last Saturday, Perkins County was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 46-40 to Dundy County-Stratton. While losing is never fun, the Plainsmen can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 208th, while the Tigers are ranked 81st).

Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 18-18 at halftime, South Platte was not quite Wauneta-Palisade's equal in the second half last Friday. They took a 46-41 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Broncos.

Perkins County will have to contain Johanna Frerichs as she made an impact in South Platte's last game. She posted 11 points in addition to seven rebounds and four steals. Frerichs has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Isabelle Reichman, who put up 11 points.

Even though they lost, South Platte smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive matchups.

South Platte's loss dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Perkins County, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-5.

Perkins County was able to grind out a solid win over South Platte in their previous matchup back in December of 2022, winning 48-39. The rematch might be a little tougher for Perkins County since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.