Basketball Game Preview: Elm Creek Buffaloes vs. Loomis Wolves

The Elm Creek Buffaloes are taking a road trip to square off against the Loomis Wolves at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Elm Creek is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.1 points per game this season.

Elm Creek is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering St. Patrick's just ended the team's eight-game winning streak on Tuesday. They were beaten by the Irish 69-38. The contest marked the Buffaloes' lowest-scoring match so far this season.

Despite the defeat, Elm Creek saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Caleb Reiter went 8 of 15 en route to 20 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Reiter has scored all season.

Meanwhile, the third road game was the charm for Loomis, as they earned their first road win of the season. They ended the year with a bang, routing St. Paul 58-37 last Saturday. The Wolves have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matches by 20 points or more this season.

Loomis found their leader in sophomore Jace Schukar, who went 10 for 16 on his way to 23 points. The dominant performance gave Schukar a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyson Essex, who posted 11 points and five rebounds.

Loomis is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 4-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.0 points per game. As for Elm Creek, their loss dropped their record down to 8-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Elm Creek has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 26.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Loomis struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Elm Creek beat Loomis 59-50 in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Elm Creek since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.