Basketball Game Preview: Keystone Wildcats vs. Brookside Cardinals

Keystone has gone 10-0 against Brookside recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Wednesday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Keystone Wildcats face off against the Brookside Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. Keystone will be coming into the matchup with an undefeated record on the line.

Keystone is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Wellington: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Keystone blew Wellington out of the water with a 54-22 final score. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine games by 20 points or more this season.

Keystone's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Vivian Cassell led the charge by putting up six points in addition to 17 boards, seven assists, and seven steals. That's the most steals Cassell has posted since back in January of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Madyson Sokolowski, who posted 19 points along with five boards and three steals.

Keystone smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 13 consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Brookside was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Saturday as they fell 51-47 to John Hay. While losing is never fun, the Cardinals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 636th, while John Hay are ranked 274th).

Keystone pushed their record up to 13-0 with the victory, which was their 16th straight on the road dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.2 points per game. As for Brookside, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 4-8.

Everything came up roses for Keystone against Brookside in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, as the squad secured a 61-19 win. In that contest, Keystone amassed a halftime lead of 45-14, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Wednesday.