Basketball Game Preview: Keystone Wildcats vs. Buckeye Bucks

Keystone and Buckeye are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2017, but not for long. The Keystone Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Buckeye Bucks at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keystone is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 64.3 points per game this season.

Keystone is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Wellington: they outscored them in every quarter. Keystone blew past Wellington 66-41 on Friday. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Liam Goran and Colt Cowling were among the main playmakers for Keystone as the former went 9 for 15 on his way to 22 points in addition to seven steals and six boards and the latter dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten boards. Cowling has been hot, having also posted two or more steals the last six times he's played. Another player making a difference was Emory Fedor, who went 5 of 8 on his way to 10 points and six rebounds.

Meanwhile, Buckeye unfortunately witnessed the end of their six-game winning streak on Monday. They fell to Norton 51-47. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Bucks came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 195th, while the Panthers are ranked 474th).

Keystone pushed their record up to 11-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.6 points per game. As for Buckeye, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-4.

Keystone didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Buckeye in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 73-68 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Keystone since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.