Basketball Game Preview: Newton HomeSchool Panthers vs. Smoky Valley Home Educators

After both having extra time off, the Newton HomeSchool Panthers and Smoky Valley Home Educators will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. Newton HomeSchool is coming into the contest on a five-game losing streak.

Newton HomeSchool is likely headed into the game with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Chanute Christian two weeks ago. Newton HomeSchool took a 50-38 hit to the loss column at the hands of Chanute Christian.

Despite the loss, Newton HomeSchool had strong showings from Ephraim Oller, who posted nine points and eight rebounds, and Theo Busenitz, who earned six points and nine rebounds. The dominant performance gave Busenitz a new career-high in boards.

Even though they lost, Newton HomeSchool smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Smoky Valley Home Educators was not able to break out of their rough patch two weeks ago as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell 53-41 to Wichita Defenders HomeSchool. That's two games in a row now that Smoky Valley Home Educators has lost by exactly 12 points.

Smoky Valley Home Educators now has a losing record at 3-4. As for Newton HomeSchool, their loss dropped their record down to 1-5.

Newton HomeSchool didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Smoky Valley Home Educators in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with an 87-83 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Smoky Valley Home Educators' Isaac Garretson, who put up 37 points. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Newton HomeSchool to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.