Basketball Game Preview: Elkhart Lions vs. South Bend St. Joseph Huskies

The Elkhart Lions will head out to challenge the South Bend St. Joseph Huskies at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

Having struggled with four defeats in a row, Elkhart turned things around against South Bend Adams on Friday. They snuck past the Eagles with a 61-57 victory. The win was all the more spectacular given the Lions' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 252nd, while the Eagles are ranked 103rd).

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for South Bend St. Joseph, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They walked away with a 72-60 victory over NorthWood on Saturday.

South Bend St. Joseph pushed their record up to 14-2 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 80.9 points per game. As for Elkhart, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-10.

Elkhart was taken down by South Bend St. Joseph 77-50 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of South Bend St. Joseph's Chase Konieczny, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and ten boards. Now that Elkhart knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.