Basketball Game Preview: Anselmo-Merna Coyotes vs. South Loup

Anselmo-Merna and South Loup are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2019, but not for long. The Anselmo-Merna Coyotes will take on South Loup on Tuesday.

In Thursday's Canine Competition, Anselmo-Merna didn't have enough. They took a hard 59-45 fall against Twin Loup on Thursday. The Coyotes were down 48-22 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Josiah Griffith

Points (Career)

02/06/25 vs Twin Loup	18
01/16/25 @ Sandhills/Thedford	16
12/17/24 vs Overton	10
01/28/25 vs Sandhills/Thedford	9
01/24/25 @ North Central	9

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Josiah Griffith, who went 6 for 15 on his way to 18 points. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Colin Wright, who posted nine points and five rebounds.

Even though they lost, Anselmo-Merna smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, South Loup had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. Everything went their way against the Eagles as they made off with a 65-43 win. South Loup has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 22 points or more this season.

South Loup pushed their record up to 15-4 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.2 points over those games. As for Anselmo-Merna, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-11 record this season.

Anselmo-Merna was taken down by South Loup 65-31 in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. Can Anselmo-Merna avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.