The Louisville Lions will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Ralston Rams at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many points in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 57-9, which was the final score in Louisville's tilt against Malcolm on Friday. Louisville has struggled against Malcolm recently, as their contest on Friday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Meanwhile, this season hasn't been kind to Ralston, who are still winless after their eighth game. They had to suffer through a rough 65-23 loss at the hands of Roncalli Catholic. While losing is never fun, Ralston can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 261st, while Roncalli Catholic is ranked 115th).
Louisville's loss was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 3-6. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 25.5 points per game. As for Ralston, their loss dropped their record down to 0-8.
Everything came up roses for Louisville against Ralston in their previous meeting back in December of 2020 as the team secured a 74-32 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Louisville since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
