Basketball Game Preview: Ainsworth Bulldogs vs. St. Mary's Cardinals

The Ainsworth Bulldogs will challenge the St. Mary's Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing isn't great for Ainsworth: they have been struggling with five straight losses at home, while St. Mary's has snatched up four consecutive wins on the road.

Ainsworth is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Mullen: they outscored them in every quarter. Ainsworth snuck past Mullen with a 49-45 victory on Friday.

Chris Fernandez was the offensive standout of the contest as he posted 16 points along with five assists and five boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Witten Painter, who had 12 points and six rebounds.

Meanwhile, St. Mary's lost to Norfolk Catholic on the road by a 71-55 margin last Saturday.

Ainsworth will have to keep a close watch on Logan Brabec and Gage Hedstrom, a pair of players who had a big impact on St. Mary's prior game. Brabec went 8 of 15 on his way to 22 points and three steals, while Hedstrom went 10 of 25 on his way to 21 points and six rebounds. That was a full 40% of St. Mary's points, marking the third time in a row he's put up more than a third of the team's points.

Ainsworth's win bumped their record up to 2-6. As for St. Mary's, their loss dropped their record down to 7-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Ainsworth has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 21.4 boards per game. However, it's not like St. Mary's struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Ainsworth took their victory against St. Mary's in their previous meeting back in December of 2014 by a conclusive 64-38. Will Ainsworth repeat their success, or does St. Mary's have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.