Preview: Racine Lutheran Crusaders vs. Racine Park Panthers
The Racine Lutheran Crusaders will head out on the road to square off against the Racine Park Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Racine Lutheran comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
Racine Lutheran suffered their biggest defeat since November 27, 2023 last Wednesday. They were outmatched by The Prairie School at home and fell 72-23. While losing is never fun, Racine Lutheran can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Wisconsin basketball rankings (they are ranked 421st, while The Prairie School is ranked 42nd).
Meanwhile, Racine Park was able to grind out a solid victory over Burlington on Tuesday, taking the game 51-43. The win was just what Racine Park needed coming off of a 65-36 loss in their prior matchup.
Racine Park's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Addison Betker led the charge by dropping a double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Ellie Khreish, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 15 rebounds.
Racine Lutheran bumped their record down to 0-11 with that defeat, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for Racine Park, the win got them back to even at 8-8.
Racine Lutheran took their win against Racine Park when the teams last played back in December of 2017 by a conclusive 55-33. Does Racine Lutheran have another victory up their sleeve, or will Racine Park turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
