The Elm Creek Buffaloes will take on the Arcadia/Loup City Rebels in a tournament on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Elm Creek has six straight wins, Arcadia/Loup City has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Friday, Elm Creek was able to grind out a solid victory over Bertrand, taking the game 58-50.
| 12/20/24 vs Bertrand | 5 |
| 12/19/24 @ Minden | 4 |
| 12/14/24 vs Ansley/Litchfield | 5 |
| 12/13/24 @ Sumner-Eddyville-Miller | 4 |
Elm Creek got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Quin Oberg out in front who dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten boards. Oberg has been hot recently, having also posted four or more steals the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Jeremiah Shoemaker, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Elm Creek was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Bertrand only posted six assists.
Meanwhile, Arcadia/Loup City was just a bucket shy of victory on Friday and fell 50-49 to St. Paul.
Elm Creek will have to keep a close watch on Eli Jaixen and Max Lewandowski, a pair of players who had a big impact on Arcadia/Loup City's prior game. Jaixen dropped a double-double on 17 points and 13 boards, while Lewandowski almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine rebounds. Those 13 boards gave Jaixen a new career-high.
Arcadia/Loup City now has a losing record at 3-4. As for Elm Creek, their victory was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Elm Creek has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 26.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Arcadia/Loup City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything went Elm Creek's way against Arcadia/Loup City in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, as Elm Creek made off with a 54-30 win. Will Elm Creek repeat their success, or does Arcadia/Loup City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
