Basketball Game Preview: Elkhorn Valley Falcons vs. Cross County Cougars

The Elkhorn Valley Falcons will square off against the Cross County Cougars at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Elkhorn Valley sitting on 26 straight victories and Cross County on 12.

On Friday, Elkhorn Valley needed a bit of extra time to put away Bishop Neumann. They walked away with a 40-33 win over the Cavaliers. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Cavaliers are ranked 46th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Cameron Rutjens

Steals (Career)

02/28/25 vs Bishop Neumann	8
12/19/24 vs Wayne	7
12/07/24 vs Lutheran-Northeast	6
01/10/25 vs Hartington-Newcastle	5
02/19/25 vs Wisner-Pilger	4

Elkhorn Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Cameron Rutjens led the charge by putting up 13 points in addition to eight steals and six boards. The dominant performance gave Rutjens a new career-high in steals. Jj Black was another key player, earning eight points along with ten rebounds and three steals.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Cross County beat Humphrey-Lindsay 49-44 on Friday.

Cross County's win came from a few key players Elkhorn Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Eden Peterson, who posted 16 points. Her evening made it five games in a row in which she has scored at least 15 points. Another player making a difference was Ella Clark, who shot 63% from the field to rack up 12 points and five boards.

Elkhorn Valley's victory was their 17th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 26-0. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.2 points over those games. As for Cross County, their win bumped their record up to 24-2.