Having just played yesterday, the Central Valley Cougars will get right back to it and host the Elgin/Pope John Wolfpack at 6:15 p.m. on January 23rd. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Central Valley scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Monday. They put the hurt on Riverside with a sharp 59-33 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Central Valley has posted since November 30, 2023.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Central Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Alexis Johnson, who scored 18 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Johnson has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Cayle Grossart, who scored ten points along with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Elgin/Pope John had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They secured a 49-44 W over West Holt. Given Elgin/Pope John's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 39th, while West Holt is ranked 142nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Elgin/Pope John had a senior duo take command as Ashlynne Charf scored 20 points and Keyera Eisenhauer scored 18 points.
Central Valley has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season. As for Elgin/Pope John, their victory bumped their record up to 13-1.
Central Valley was dealt a bruising 69-30 loss at the hands of Elgin/Pope John in their previous meeting back in January of 2023. The matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Central Valley was down 35-12.
