Preview: Fort Calhoun Pioneers vs. North Bend Central Tigers
The Fort Calhoun Pioneers will head out on the road to challenge the North Bend Central Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Fort Calhoun is looking to tack on another W to their nine-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Last Friday, Fort Calhoun didn't have too much trouble with Raymond Central at home as they won 58-39. Given Fort Calhoun's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 43rd, while Raymond Central is ranked 249th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Fort Calhoun relied on the efforts of Grayson Bouwman, who scored 20 points, and Colby Bentley, who scored 26 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Bentley has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Travis Skelton, who scored seven points.
Meanwhile, North Bend Central unfortunately witnessed the end of their six-game winning streak on Thursday. They took a hard 61-44 fall against Howells-Dodge. North Bend Central has struggled against Howells-Dodge recently, as their matchup on Thursday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Fort Calhoun is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. As for North Bend Central, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-5.
Fort Calhoun took their win against North Bend Central when the teams last played back in February of 2023 by a conclusive 50-30. The rematch might be a little tougher for Fort Calhoun since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
