Oak Grove is 8-2 against Excelsior Springs since February of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Oak Grove Panthers will head out on the road to take on the Excelsior Springs Tigers at 7:30 p.m. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for Oak Grove and nine for Excelsior Springs.
Oak Grove pushed their score all the way to 60 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Pleasant Hill by a score of 62-60. Oak Grove has struggled against Pleasant Hill recently, as their matchup on Friday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, Oak Grove had strong showings from Maurkalip Riley, who scored 19 points along with eight assists and six rebounds, and Phillip Nadeau, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. It was the first time this season that Riley posted eight or more assists. Another player making a difference was Jaxson Ford, who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 68-18, which was the final score in Excelsior Springs' tilt against Grain Valley last Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Excelsior Springs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 502nd, while Grain Valley is ranked 111th).
Oak Grove dropped their record down to 7-17 with that defeat, which was their eighth straight on the road. As for Excelsior Springs, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-16.
Oak Grove couldn't quite finish off Excelsior Springs when the teams last played back in February of 2023 and fell 59-56. Can Oak Grove avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
