Basketball Game Preview: Decatur Community Red Devils vs. Hoxie Indians

Decatur Community hasn't had much luck against Hoxie recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Decatur Community Red Devils will square off against the Hoxie Indians at 7:00 p.m. Decatur Community is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.9 points per game this season.

Decatur Community took a loss when they played away from home last Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Northern Valley as Decatur Community made off with a 71-49 win. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 39-19.

Decatur Community's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Caden Shaw, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 13 rebounds. Those 13 rebounds gave Shaw a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Tyler Ostmeyer, who went 6 of 10 en route to 14 points and eight rebounds.

Decatur Community was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Northern Valley only racked up four assists.

Meanwhile, Hoxie lost to Colby on the road by a 71-53 margin last Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Indians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 214th, while the Eagles are ranked 48th).

Decatur Community moved to 5-4 with that victory, which also ended their three-game losing streak. As for Hoxie, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 4-4.

Decatur Community ended up a good deal behind Hoxie in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, losing 62-47. Can Decatur Community avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.