Basketball Game Preview: Freeman Falcons vs. McCool Junction Mustangs

Freeman is on a four-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while McCool Junction is on a ten-game streak of away wins (also dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. The Freeman Falcons will be taking part in a tournament against the McCool Junction Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Saturday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Freeman beat Syracuse 49-45. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while the Rockets are ranked 36th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, McCool Junction didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Sacred Heart on Saturday, but they still walked away with a 55-50 win.

Freeman better focus on containing Mapieu Kouchinin and Carson Mcdonald as the pair were huge in McCool Junction's win. Kouchinin dropped a double-double on 23 points and 14 boards, while Mcdonald went 7 of 9 on his way to 18 points and eight assists. That makes it five consecutive games in which Kouchinin has scored at least a third of McCool Junction's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Colby Yates, who posted six points and three steals.

McCool Junction smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in six consecutive contests.

McCool Junction's victory bumped their record up to 6-1. As for Freeman, their win bumped their record up to 6-0.

Things could have been worse for Freeman, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 41-25 loss to McCool Junction when the teams last played back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kouchinin, who went 7 of 10 on his way to 19 points along with five boards and three blocks. Now that Freeman knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.