Basketball Game Preview: Stanton Mustangs vs. Winside Wildcats

The Stanton Mustangs will challenge the Winside Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Stanton will be strutting in after a victory while Winside will be coming in after a loss.

Stanton took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They snuck past Wisner-Pilger with a 48-42 win. The victory continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Gators: they've now won four in a row.

Olivia Hupp

Points

02/03/25 vs Wisner-Pilger	16
01/31/25 vs Bancroft-Rosalie	7
01/30/25 @ Bloomfield	11
01/25/25 @ Lyons-Decatur Northeast	8
01/21/25 vs Madison	7
+ 21 more games

Olivia Hupp was nothing short of spectacular: she dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 rebounds. That's the most points she has posted since back in January of 2024. Hayden Dixon was another key player, going 5 of 9 en route to 13 points.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Winside faced off against Osmond on Thursday. Winside was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 39-38 to Osmond. The Wildcats have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Stanton will have to keep a close watch on Bridget Marotz and Hadleigh Schutt, a pair of players who had a big impact on Winside's prior game. Marotz scored ten points in addition to eight boards and three steals, while Schutt earned 17 points. That was a full 44.7% of Winside's points, marking the third time in a row she's put up more than a third of the team's points.

Winside's defeat dropped their record down to 5-16. As for Stanton, their win bumped their record up to 13-7.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Stanton has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 32.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Winside struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Everything came up roses for Stanton against Winside when the teams last played back in February of 2024, as the team secured a 49-14 victory. In that contest, Stanton amassed a halftime lead of 29-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Tuesday.