Basketball Game Preview: Walthill Blujays vs. Randolph Cardinals

The Walthill Blujays are taking a road trip to square off against the Randolph Cardinals at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Walthill has three straight victories, Randolph has nine straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Walthill will head into Friday's matchup hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a three-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 26-point drubbing they dealt Omaha Christian Academy on Friday. Walthill put the hurt on Omaha Christian Academy with a sharp 63-37 win.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Walthill to victory, but perhaps none more so than Khirstin Wolfe, who went 8 for 13 on her way to 18 points and three steals. Wolfe is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tangela Randol, who posted 12 points in addition to four steals and three blocks.

Meanwhile, Randolph played a tough game on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 56-14 to Hartington-Newcastle, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. While losing is never fun, the Cardinals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 265th, while the Wildcats are ranked 123rd).

Walthill has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 5-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.6 points per game. As for Randolph, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-9.

Walthill came up short against Randolph in their previous matchup back in February of 2022, falling 55-46. Thankfully for Walthill, Erin Engel (who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 14 boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.