Basketball Game Preview: 21st Century Charter Cougars vs. Gary West Side Cougars

21st Century Charter has won nine straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Gary West Side has won nine straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The 21st Century Charter Cougars will welcome the Gary West Side Cougars at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

21st Century Charter fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Lake Central on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 67-62 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Indians. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Monday (57), the Cougars still had to take the loss.

The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Terrence Hayes and Zachary Greene. Greene had a great game and went 14 for 18 on his way to 36 points and five rebounds. Meanwhile, Hayes was balling out in the loss, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 13 boards.

Meanwhile, Gary West Side won against East Chicago Central on Thursday with 60 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Saturday. Gary West Side was the clear victor by a 60-38 margin over Tindley. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 79th, while the Tigers are ranked 357th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Gary West Side is also on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.6 points per game. As for 21st Century Charter, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-5.

21st Century Charter didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Gary West Side in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, but they still walked away with a 60-56 victory. Will 21st Century Charter repeat their success, or does Gary West Side have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.