Basketball Game Preview: Mascoutah Indians vs. Mater Dei Knights

The Mascoutah Indians will square off against the Mater Dei Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Mascoutah is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.

Mascoutah's tournament run continued when they took on Breese Central on Monday. Mascoutah took a 56-46 hit to the loss column at the hands of Breese Central.

Meanwhile, Mater Dei strolled past Metro-East Lutheran with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 47-30.

Mater Dei's win came from a few key players Mascoutah will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Gavin Peppenhorst, who went 6 of 10 en route to 12 points in addition to seven boards and four blocks. Those four blocks gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jared Hemker, who posted 13 points and seven rebounds.

Mater Dei is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.6 points per game. As for Mascoutah, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-6.

Mascoutah skirted past Mater Dei 41-38 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Will Mascoutah repeat their success, or does Mater Dei have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.