The Western Panthers will look to defend their home court on Thursday against the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings at 7:30 p.m. Western is out to stop a five-game streak of losses at home.
Last Saturday, Western suffered a tough 73-47 loss at the hands of the Gophers. While losing is never fun, Western can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 265th, while the Gophers are ranked 109th).
Western's defeat came about despite a quality game from Logan Nelson, who scored 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Aidan Quillen, who scored seven points.
Meanwhile, Tippecanoe Valley earned a 36-29 win over the Jimmies on Saturday.
Tippecanoe Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Stephen Akase led the charge by scoring seven points along with 12 rebounds. Kyler Johnson was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Western has not been sharp recently as the team's lost nine of their last ten matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-12 record this season. As for Tippecanoe Valley, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season.
