Preview: Wheatland-Grinnell Thunderhawks vs. Oakley Plainsmen
Wheatland-Grinnell is 0-5 against Oakley since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Wheatland-Grinnell Thunderhawks will head out on the road to face off against the Oakley Plainsmen at 6:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Wheatland-Grinnell has four straight wins, Oakley has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Wheatland-Grinnell can now show off four landslide victories after their most recent match on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Western Plains 64-16 on the road. That 48 points margin sets a new team best for Wheatland-Grinnell this season.
Wheatland-Grinnell got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Natalie Bixenman out in front who scored 24 points along with nine rebounds and six assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Bixenman has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Karoline Schroeder, who scored 16 points along with six assists and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Oakley came up short against Thomas More Prep-Marian on Saturday and fell 54-46.
Despite the defeat, Oakley saw an underclassman step up: Jade Beckman scored 15 points along with nine rebounds and five steals. Beckman is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Justice Booker was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and 14 rebounds.
Wheatland-Grinnell is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. As for Oakley, they bumped their record down to 5-8 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road.
Tuesday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Wheatland-Grinnell have been dynamite from deep this season, having only made 33.7% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Oakley struggles in that department as they've only made 30% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Wheatland-Grinnell was taken down by Oakley 62-29 when the teams last played back in January of 2023. Thankfully for Wheatland-Grinnell, Jaelle Johnson (who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
