Basketball Game Preview: Clark/Willow Lake Cyclones vs. Groton Tigers

The Clark/Willow Lake Cyclones will square off against the Groton Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Clark/Willow Lake comes in on four and Groton on five.

Clark/Willow Lake will bounce into Thursday's match after beating DeSmet, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Clark/Willow Lake came out on top against DeSmet by a score of 45-35 on Tuesday. While the Cyclones didn't have the best season last year (they finished 9-13), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, Groton won against Redfield on Saturday with 51 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Tuesday. Groton strolled past Warner with points to spare, taking the game 51-34. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' South Dakota basketball rankings (they are ranked 11th, while the Monarchs are ranked 76th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Groton pushed their record up to 6-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.5 points per game. As for Clark/Willow Lake, their win bumped their record up to 5-1.

Clark/Willow Lake was dealt a bruising 56-23 defeat at the hands of Groton in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. Can Clark/Willow Lake avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.