Preview: Loomis Wolves vs. Alma Cardinals
Loomis is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Alma is on a ten-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. Both teams will face off at 7:45 p.m. on January 18th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard on Thursday.
Loomis struggled with offensive rebounds on Saturday (Dundy County-Stratton had nine more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Loomis fell 75-66 to Dundy County-Stratton. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game on Friday (63), Loomis still had to take the loss.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Cale Nelson and Jackson Kerchal. Kerchal had a great game and dropped a double-double on 27 points and 19 rebounds. Meanwhile, Nelson did his best for the losing side, scoring 11 points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Alma strolled past Hitchcock County with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 58-44.
Alma's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Zavier Mitchell led the charge by scoring 14 points along with two steals. Mitchell hasn't dropped below two steals for five straight games. Jakin Neal was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with nine rebounds and four steals.
Loomis' defeat dropped their record down to 8-7. As for Alma, their victory bumped their record up to 13-1.
Thursday's game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Loomis have been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 37.5% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Alma struggles in that department as they've made 44.6% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for Loomis against Alma when the teams last played back in January of 2022 as the team secured a 80-37 win. Does Loomis have another victory up their sleeve, or will Alma turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
