Basketball Game Preview: Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine vs. Casey-Westfield Warriors

Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine will square off against the Casey-Westfield Warriors at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine is likely headed into the contest with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against South Vermillion last Monday. Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine took a 64-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of South Vermillion. While losing is never fun, Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 636th in Illinois, while South Vermillion is ranked 229th in Indiana).

Meanwhile, Casey-Westfield came up short against Sullivan on Saturday and fell 48-38. The matchup marked the Warriors' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine will have to keep a close watch on Luke Karras and Hayden Parcel, a pair of players who had a big impact on Casey-Westfield's prior game. Karras almost dropped a double-double on nine points and ten rebounds, while Parcel posted 16 points and seven boards. The dominant performance also gave Karras a new career-high in steals (four). Another player making a difference was Jackson High, who put up five points.

Even though they lost, Casey-Westfield smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in four consecutive contests.

This is the second loss in a row for Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine and nudges their season record down to 3-8. As for Casey-Westfield, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-3 record this season.

Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine took a serious blow against Casey-Westfield in their previous matchup back in November of 2021, falling 65-20. Thankfully for Oblong/Hutsonville/Palestine, Jackson Parcel (who went 7 of 11 on his way to 14 points in addition to five assists and three steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.