After two games on the road, Fort Calhoun is heading back home. They will take on the Brownell Talbot Raiders at TBD on Monday. Hopefully Fort Calhoun is not getting complacent, as they presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Brownell Talbot in Nebraska (Fort Calhoun is ranked 84th, while Brownell Talbot is ranked 263rd).
Fort Calhoun can now show off four landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Tuesday. They took their contest on the road with ease, bagging a 47-16 victory over Louisville. With Fort Calhoun ahead 33-4 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Fort Calhoun can attribute much of their success to Bria Bench, who scored 12 points along with five steals and two blocks, and Raeann Massey, who scored 11 points along with seven steals and five rebounds. Bench has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 11 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Ansley Elofson, who scored seven points along with eight rebounds and five steals.
Meanwhile, Brownell Talbot's recent rough patch got a bit rougher last Saturday after their fifth straight loss. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 28-27 to Cedar Bluffs.
Despite the loss, Brownell Talbot saw an underclassman step up: Avery Nichols dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds. That was a full 70.4% of Brownell Talbot's points, marking the tenth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Brownell Talbot struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Fort Calhoun has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. As for Brownell Talbot, their defeat was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 2-8.
Monday's contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Bench and Nichols. Bench has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 11.6 points, 3 steals, and 1.6 blocks. For her part, Nichols has averaged 15.7 points, 3.3 steals, and 1.6 blocks.
Fort Calhoun was able to grind out a solid win over Brownell Talbot in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, winning 47-37. Will Fort Calhoun repeat their success, or does Brownell Talbot have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
