The Fort Calhoun Pioneers will be playing at home against the Nebraska City Pioneers at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
A well-balanced attack led Fort Calhoun over the Eagles in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Fort Calhoun took down the Eagles 58-42. Given Fort Calhoun's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 36th, while the Eagles are ranked 142nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Fort Calhoun to victory, but perhaps none more so than Grayson Bouwman, who scored 20 points along with two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Declyn Otte, who scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, Nebraska City had to endure a five-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They walked away with a 54-46 win over Raymond Central on Thursday.
Kalan Fritch went supernova for Nebraska City, scoring 18 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Kaiden Klassen was another key contributor, scoring four points along with two steals.
Fort Calhoun pushed their record up to 14-4 with that win, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.3 points per game. As for Nebraska City, their win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 3-15.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Fort Calhoun have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Nebraska City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Fort Calhoun was able to grind out a solid win over the Pioneers when the teams last played back in February of 2023, winning 54-43. Will Fort Calhoun repeat their success, or do the Pioneers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
