Basketball Game Preview: Dakota Valley Panthers vs. Lennox Orioles

Dakota Valley is 8-2 against Lennox since March of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Dakota Valley Panthers will be playing at home against the Lennox Orioles at 7:30 p.m. Dakota Valley knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past seven games -- so hopefully Lennox likes a good challenge.

Dakota Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Sioux City East, who was ranked 12th in their home state at the time (Dakota Valley was ranked 23rd). Dakota Valley came up short against Sioux City East on Saturday, falling 81-60.

Luke Bruns

Points

02/22/25 vs Sioux City East	28
02/21/25 @ Madison	18
02/14/25 @ Dell Rapids	26
02/11/25 @ Vermillion	18
02/06/25 @ Elk Point-Jefferson	21
+ 15 more games

Dakota Valley might have lost, but man, Luke Bruns was a machine: he to rack up 28 points and seven rebounds. The match was Bruns' 20th in a row with at least 15 points. Another player making a difference was Logan Collette, who posted 14 points and five boards.

Meanwhile, Lennox entered their tilt with Beresford on Tuesday with seven consecutive wins , and they'll enter their next game with eight. They strolled past the Watchdogs with points to spare, taking the game 71-54.

Lennox pushed their record up to 15-4 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.7 points over those games. As for Dakota Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-6.

Dakota Valley strolled past Lennox in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 by a score of 72-58. Does Dakota Valley have another victory up their sleeve, or will Lennox turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.