Winside and St. Edward are an even 3-3 against one another since December of 2017, but not for long. The Winside Wildcats will be playing in front of their home fans against the St. Edward Beavers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Winside's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight loss dating back to last season. Their tough 57-34 defeat to Bloomfield might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, Winside can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 213th, while Bloomfield is ranked 65th).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Kaden Hunt, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds. Hunt scored a full 35.3% of Winside's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Gavin Schutt was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
Meanwhile, St. Edward was the victim of a rough 54-30 loss at the hands of Madison on Saturday. St. Edward has not had much luck with Madison recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.
Despite their defeat, St. Edward saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Anthony Reader, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds and four steals, was perhaps the best of all. The contest was Reader's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Marcos Paez, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.
Winside's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 0-3. As for St. Edward, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.
Tuesday's match is shaping up to be a scrappy contest: Winside have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 20 rebounds per game. However, it's not like St. Edward struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 22.8 rebounds per game. Given Winside's sizeable advantage in that area, St. Edward will need to find a way to close that gap.
Winside took their victory against St. Edward in their previous matchup back in December of 2022 by a conclusive 57-36. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was St. Edward's Isaac Roberts, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for Winside to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
