Basketball Game Preview: Waterloo Vikings vs. McDonald Blue Devils

The Waterloo Vikings will head out on the road to square off against the McDonald Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Waterloo will be strutting in after a win while McDonald will be coming in after a loss.

Waterloo proved they can win big two weeks ago (they won by 35) and on Monday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Cardinal, sneaking past 51-48. Winning may never get old, but the Vikings sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.

Meanwhile, McDonald suffered their biggest defeat since February 25, 2025 on Friday. They came up short against Lake Center Christian, falling 72-48. The loss was the Blue Devils' first of the season.

Waterloo will have to keep a close watch on Drew Zajack and Joey Cappuzzello, a pair of players who had a big impact on McDonald's prior game. Zajack shot 47% from the field on his way to 20 points and six rebounds, while Cappuzzello went 6-for-13 to rack up 16 points and five assists. Zajack's big performance that evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least 15 points.

Waterloo's victory bumped their record up to 8-15. As for McDonald, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 21-1.

Waterloo was dealt a bruising 72-34 defeat at the hands of McDonald in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cappuzzello, who went 6-for-11 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points along with eight boards and three steals. Now that the Vikings know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.