Basketball Game Preview: Ishpeming Hematites vs. Westwood Patriots

The Ishpeming Hematites will challenge the Westwood Patriots at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

Ishpeming is headed into the contest having just suffered their biggest defeat since December 16, 2024 on Friday. They lost 68-45 to Iron Mountain. While losing is never fun, the Hematites can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Michigan basketball rankings (they are ranked 298th, while the Mountaineers are ranked 48th).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Westwood). They took their matchup on Friday with ease, bagging an 86-27 win over Manistique. The Patriots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 28 points or more this season.

Ishpeming now has a losing record at 7-8. As for Westwood, they have been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season.

Things could have been worse for Ishpeming, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 61-44 loss to Westwood in their previous matchup back in December of 2024. Will Ishpeming have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.