The Arapahoe Warriors will face off against the Alma Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Arapahoe has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Alma will arrive with nine straight victories.
Arapahoe is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against Bertrand on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Arapahoe was beaten by Bertrand 70-43. While losing is never fun, the Warriors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 276th, while the Vikings are ranked 115th).
William Cacy
| 02/14/25 @ Bertrand | 14 |
| 02/11/25 @ Cambridge | 13 |
| 01/17/25 @ Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] | 13 |
| 01/18/24 @ Southern Valley | 13 |
| 01/28/25 vs Medicine Valley | 12 |
Defeat or not, Arapahoe got some senior leadership from William Cacy and Grayson Koller. Cacy dropped a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Koller posted nine points. The dominant performance gave Cacy a new career-high in boards.
Even though they lost, Arapahoe smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Alma hadn't done well against Cambridge recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Alma came out on top against Cambridge by a score of 49-41.
Alma's win came from a few key players Arapahoe will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Zavier Mitchell, who went 7-for-11 on his way to 16 points in addition to eight rebounds and three steals. He is also on a roll when it comes to shooting accuracy, as he's posted one of at least 58% in the last five games he's played. Tucker Biskup was another key player, putting up 12 points.
Alma pushed their record up to 20-2 with the win, which was their 11th straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.9 points over those games. As for Arapahoe, their loss dropped their record down to 2-20.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Arapahoe has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 36.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Alma struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Arapahoe was dealt a bruising 66-27 defeat at the hands of Alma when the teams last played back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Alma's Isaiah Neal, who went 7-for-12 en route to 20 points along with six boards and four steals. Now that Arapahoe knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
