Basketball Game Preview: Botkins Trojans vs. Shawnee Indians

Botkins is 0-3 against Shawnee since February of 2022 but things could change on Saturday. The two teams will face off at 7:30 p.m. without much rest having both just played.

On Friday, Botkins came up short against Russia and fell 47-36. While losing is never fun, the Trojans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 164th, while the Raiders are ranked 15th).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Shawnee). They came out on top against Van Wert by a score of 82-69 on Friday. Winning may never get old, but the Indians sure are getting used to it with their eighth in a row.

Botkins better focus on containing Trevick Bertke and Beckett Bertke as the pair were huge in Shawnee's win. Trevick went 12 of 16 on his way to 30 points in addition to eight boards and five assists, while Beckett almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine rebounds. The game was Trevick's sixth in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jagger Hutchins, who posted ten points and eight boards.

Shawnee was working as a unit and finished the game with 25 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January of 2024.

This is the second loss in a row for Botkins and nudges their season record down to 14-5. As for Shawnee, their win was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 17-2.

Botkins ended up a good deal behind Shawnee when the teams last played back in February of 2024, losing 59-45. Will Botkins have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.