Basketball Game Preview: Winamac Warriors vs. Pioneer Panthers

Winamac and Pioneer are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2015, but not for long. The Winamac Warriors will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Pioneer Panthers at 7:30 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Last Tuesday, Winamac blew past North White, posting a 64-34 victory. The Warriors have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 21 points or more this season.

Jaybin Hines

Rebounds (Career)

02/18/25 vs North White	6
01/31/25 vs West Central	5
01/24/25 @ Caston	5
12/10/24 @ Knox	5
01/02/25 vs Rossville	4

Winamac's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jaybin Hines, who posted ten points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. The dominant performance gave Hines a new career-high in boards. Justin Potthoff was another key player, going 5-for-9 to rack up 14 points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pioneer). They claimed a resounding 64-26 victory over Oregon-Davis. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.

Pioneer has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 12-8 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.6 points over those games. As for Winamac, their victory bumped their record up to 12-8.

Winamac took their win against Pioneer in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 52-31. Will Winamac repeat their success, or does Pioneer have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.