Elm Creek has gone 9-1 against Bertrand recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Elm Creek Buffaloes will take on the Bertrand Vikings at 6:30 p.m. Elm Creek has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.
Elm Creek took a 28-point defeat the last time they faced off against Overton, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. Elm Creek had just enough and edged out Overton 69-66. The Buffaloes haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive win against them.
Blake Erickson
| 02/25/25 vs Overton | 63% |
| 01/24/25 @ Pleasanton | 50% |
| 01/14/25 vs Wilcox-Hildreth | 50% |
| 12/20/24 vs Bertrand | 50% |
| 12/05/24 @ Shelton | 33% |
Elm Creek's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Quin Oberg, who went 6-for-11 from beyond the arc on his way to 38 points and five rebounds, and Blake Erickson, who shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc and almost dropped a double-double with 21 points and nine boards. The dominant performance also gave Erickson a new career-high in three-point shooting accuracy (63%). Another player making a difference was Jeremiah Shoemaker, who posted three points and three steals.
Meanwhile, Bertrand entered their tilt with Loomis on Tuesday with five consecutive wins , and they'll enter their next game with six. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Wolves, sneaking past 65-62. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Vikings have posted since January 18th.
Elm Creek better focus on containing Thunder Nelson and Marcus Hernandez as the pair were huge in Bertrand's win. Nelson dropped a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Hernandez had 23 points and five boards. Hernandez's big performance that evening made it 11 games in a row in which he has scored at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kayden Hatfield, who put up nine points.
Bertrand's win bumped their record up to 20-5. As for Elm Creek, their victory bumped their record up to 19-4.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest-scoring teams around. Elm Creek hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.9 points per game. However, it's not like Bertrand struggles in that department as they've been averaging 59 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can put up more.
Elm Creek beat Bertrand 58-50 in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Hernandez, who almost dropped a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Elm Creek still be able to contain Hernandez? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
