Basketball Game Preview: Pike Valley Panthers vs. St. John's/Tipton Catholic Blujays

Pike Valley is 1-9 against St. John's/Tipton Catholic since February of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Pike Valley Panthers will welcome the St. John's/Tipton Catholic Blujays at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

It was a proper cat-fight when Pike Valley duked it out with Natoma on Friday. Pike Valley really took it to Natoma for the full four quarters, racking up a 61-24 win. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 22 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, St. John's/Tipton Catholic didn't have too much trouble with Thunder Ridge last Tuesday as they won 77-63. The victory continues a trend for the Blujays in their matchups with the Longhorns: they've now won four in a row.

Pike Valley better keep an eye on Edward Horinek. He was instrumental in St. John's/Tipton Catholic's win, going 9-for-13 to rack up 22 points along with five rebounds and five steals. The matchup was Horinek's eighth in a row with at least 18 points. Another player making a difference was Grant Goodaker, who went 5-for-9 on his way to 14 points.

St. John's/Tipton Catholic's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-4. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.0 points over those games. As for Pike Valley, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-10 record this season.

Pike Valley ended up a good deal behind St. John's/Tipton Catholic in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, losing 63-44. Thankfully for Pike Valley, Gage Stewart (who dropped a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.