Basketball Game Preview: Randolph Cardinals vs. Elgin/Pope John Wolfpack

The Randolph Cardinals will face off against the Elgin/Pope John Wolfpack at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Randolph hasn't scored more than 20 points for 15 games straight, a trend the team is eager to reverse.

Randolph's tournament run continued when they took on Walthill last Monday. Randolph was outmatched by Walthill and fell 52-20.

Despite the defeat, Randolph saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Braylee Kelley posted seven points along with 12 rebounds and five steals. The dominant performance also gave Kelley a new career-high in field goal percentage (22%).

Even though they lost, Randolph smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Elgin/Pope John against Chambers/Wheeler Central on Tuesday as the squad secured a 60-32 win. The Wolfpack have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 23 points or more this season.

Elgin/Pope John's win came from a few key players Randolph will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kayton Zwingman, who scored 13 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Braelyn Martinsen, who earned 12 points.

Elgin/Pope John is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which somehow still isn't as good as their 17-5 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 27.3 points. As for Randolph, their loss dropped their record down to 0-18.