Basketball Game Preview: Lawrence-Nelson Raiders vs. McCool Junction Mustangs

The Lawrence-Nelson Raiders will square off against the McCool Junction Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Lawrence-Nelson has three straight victories, McCool Junction has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Saturday, Lawrence-Nelson didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Franklin, but they still walked away with a 38-33 win.

Kara Menke continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, almost dropping a double-double on 19 points and nine boards. That makes it four consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Lawrence-Nelson's points. Brynnly Harrison was another key player, putting up eight points and six rebounds.

Meanwhile, McCool Junction lost to Heartland at home by a 44-27 margin on Saturday. The Mustangs were down 34-13 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

McCool Junction now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Lawrence-Nelson, their victory bumped their record up to 3-5.

Lawrence-Nelson took a serious blow against McCool Junction when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 62-11. Thankfully for Lawrence-Nelson, Mckenna Yates (who went 8 of 16 on her way to 25 points and three steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.