Basketball Game Preview: Yutan Chieftains vs. Mead Raiders

Yutan is 10-0 against Mead since February of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the Yutan Chieftains will head out on the road to face off against the Mead Raiders at 6:00 p.m. Yutan will be strutting in after a win while Mead will be coming in after a loss.

On Thursday, everything went Yutan's way against Brownell Talbot as Yutan made off with a 61-35 victory. Given the Chieftains' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 55th, while the Raiders are ranked 206th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Yutan's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Mylee Tichota, who posted 26 points, and Amelia Dieckman, who earned 18 points. The dominant performance gave Tichota a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Audrey Dieckman, who put up six points.

Meanwhile, Mead was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their 30th straight defeat dating back to last season. They had to suffer through a 47-19 loss at the hands of Cedar Bluffs.

Mead got a good chunk of their points from the dynamic duo of Elizabeth Brennan and Addison O'Brien, who each put up five points. Stella Charles held things down on the boards with six rebounds.

Yutan has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.3 points per game. As for Mead, their loss dropped their record down to 0-8.

Everything came up roses for Yutan against Mead when the teams last played back in January of 2024, as the squad secured a 62-8 win. In that game, Yutan amassed a halftime lead of 50-2, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.