The Grand Island Central Catholic Crusaders will take on the Elkhorn Valley Falcons at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Grand Island Central Catholic has three straight wins, Elkhorn Valley has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
A well-balanced attack led Grand Island Central Catholic over Hershey in every quarter on their way to victory on Saturday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Grand Island Central Catholic blew Hershey out of the water with a 62-29 final score. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Grand Island Central Catholic had established a 30 point advantage.
Grand Island Central Catholic found their leader in underclassman Thomas Birch, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 12 rebounds. Birch is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Haney, who scored eight points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Elkhorn Valley lost to Cedar Catholic on the road by a decisive 53-35 margin on Tuesday. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Elkhorn Valley has scored all season.
Despite the defeat, Elkhorn Valley got a solid performance out of Kellyn Ollendick, who scored 19 points along with five rebounds. Dawson Hansen was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with seven rebounds and two blocks.
Grand Island Central Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 8-10 record this season. As for Elkhorn Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-5.
Saturday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Grand Island Central Catholic have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 37.6% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Elkhorn Valley struggles in that department as they've made 44.3% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
