Elba hasn't had much luck against Red Cloud recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Elba Bluejays will venture away from home to face off against the Red Cloud Warriors at 3:30 p.m.
Elba managed to keep up with Palmer until halftime on Thursday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Elba was dealt a 60-26 defeat at the hands of Palmer. The Bluejays have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
| 01/09/25 vs Palmer | 15 |
| 01/03/25 vs Burwell | 13 |
| 12/31/24 vs Palmer | 11 |
| 01/06/24 vs Red Cloud | 11 |
| 01/27/24 vs High Plains | 9 |
Despite the loss, Elba had strong showings from Ethan Lange, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 15 boards, and Blake Barg, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 13 boards. The dominant performance gave Barg a new career-high in points.
Even though they lost, Elba smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in six consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Red Cloud). They really took it to Harvard for the full four quarters, racking up a 62-15 win. Given the Warriors' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 114th, while the Cardinals are ranked 281st), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Elba better keep an eye on Gage Ely. He was instrumental in Red Cloud's win, dropping a double-double on 17 points and 12 boards. The game was Ely's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Wyatt Giger, who posted eight points and 11 rebounds.
The victory was the fourth in a row for Red Cloud, bringing their record for this year to 7-3. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.5 points per game. As for Elba, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Elba has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Red Cloud struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Elba was taken down by Red Cloud 67-25 when the teams last played back in January of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Elba was down 40-11.
