Basketball Game Preview: Granite City Warriors vs. Mater Dei Knights

Granite City hasn't had much luck against Mater Dei recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Granite City Warriors will be playing in front of their home fans against the Mater Dei Knights at 7:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Granite City took a loss when they played away from home two weeks ago, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They walked away with a 43-35 win over Gibault Catholic.

Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Mater Dei over Metro-East Lutheran in every quarter on their way to victory on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Mater Dei blew Metro-East Lutheran out of the water with a 56-26 final score. With Mater Dei ahead 33-9 at the half, the game was all but over already.

Granite City better keep an eye on Elliott Rakers. He was instrumental in Mater Dei's win, putting up ten points and five boards. Rakers is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 50% in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Luke Brefeld, who posted eight points.

Mater Dei was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Metro-East Lutheran only racked up five assists.

Mater Dei has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-9 record this season. As for Granite City, their victory bumped their record up to 9-20.

Granite City couldn't quite finish off Mater Dei when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 54-52. Will Granite City have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.