East hasn't had much luck against Northwest recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. It'll be Eastside v. Westside when the East Aces and the Northwest Grizzlies meet at 7:30 p.m. East is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.6 points per game this season.
Last Friday, East came up short against Kapaun Mt. Carmel and fell 59-51.
Ismael Berry
| 02/07/25 vs Kapaun Mt. Carmel | 26 |
| 02/04/25 @ Bishop Carroll | 20 |
| 01/28/25 vs West | 15 |
| 01/25/25 vs Lawrence Free State | 17 |
| 01/24/25 vs Hutchinson | 24 |
The losing side was boosted by Ismael Berry, who posted 26 points. The contest was his fifth in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Henderson, who scored nine points and six rebounds.
Even though they lost, East smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Northwest had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34.8 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 79-53 margin over the Golden Buffalo. Given the Grizzlies' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 34th, while the Golden Buffalo are ranked 131st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Northwest's win came from a few key players East will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Dj Brown, who dropped a double-double with 24 points and ten boards. River Peters was another key player, going 8 of 13 on his way to 23 points and eight rebounds.
Northwest's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-3. As for East, their loss dropped their record down to 8-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: East has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Northwest struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
East came up short against Northwest when the teams last played back in December of 2024, falling 65-58. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Peters, who dropped a double-double with 22 points and ten boards. Now that East knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
