Basketball Game Preview: Merino Rams vs. Sedgwick County Cougars

The Merino Rams and the Sedgwick County Cougars will face off at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday without much rest, having both just played. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Merino sitting on ten straight wins and Sedgwick County on four.

Merino is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They walked away with a 53-41 victory over Akron. Given Merino's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 15th, while Akron is ranked 68th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Sedgwick County meant business on Friday, getting buckets from all over the court against a Mustangs squad that has allowed just 27.41 points per contest. Sedgwick County came out on top against Sanford by a score of 60-47.

Merino better focus on containing Abigail Dille and Lainee Nein as the pair were huge in Sedgwick County's win. Dille almost dropped a double-double with 21 points and nine boards, while Nein almost dropped a double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds. Nein has been hot, having also posted two or more steals the last eight times she's played. Another player making a difference was Piper Buettenback, who posted four points.

Sedgwick County's win bumped their record up to 21-4. As for Merino, their victory bumped their record up to 25-1.

Merino didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Sedgwick County when the teams last played two weeks ago, but they still walked away with a 45-41 win. Does Merino have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sedgwick County turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.