Basketball Game Preview: Carroll Cougars vs. Tipton Blue Devils

The Carroll Cougars and the Tipton Blue Devils will face off at 8:00 p.m. on Friday without much rest having both just played. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Carroll comes in on seven and Tipton on three.

Carroll saw some tournament action on Thursday. They rang in the new year with a 58-45 victory over Clinton Central. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 110th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 419th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Tipton). They couldn't have asked for a better start to 2025 than the 79-50 blowout they got against Kokomo HomeSchool. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded the Blue Devils with their most commanding win of the season.

Carroll better keep an eye on Grady Carpenter. He was instrumental in Tipton's win, dropping a triple-double on 28 points, 11 boards, and 14 assists. That makes it five consecutive games in which Carpenter has scored at least a third of Tipton's points. Another player making a difference was Sam Quigley, who went 7 of 14 en route to 17 points and five assists.

Tipton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive rebound total in three consecutive matchups.

Tipton pushed their record up to 5-2 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points per game. As for Carroll, their victory bumped their record up to 7-0.

Carroll came up short against Tipton in their previous matchup back in December of 2022, falling 74-67. Thankfully for Carroll, Nolan Swan (who went 8 of 16 on his way to 27 points along with six assists and three steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.