The Evart Wildcats will square off against the Pine River Area Bucks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Last Tuesday, Evart lost to McBain on the road by a 59-42 margin. The loss continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Ramblers: they've now lost seven in a row.
Meanwhile, Pine River Area put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. They strolled past Lake City with points to spare, taking the game 52-33. Given the Bucks' advantage in MaxPreps' Michigan basketball rankings (they are ranked 70th, while the Trojans are ranked 453rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Pine River Area's win came from a few key players Evart will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Eli Smith, who went 9 for 16 on his way to 19 points and six rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Stone Walker, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 12 points and eight rebounds.
Pine River Area was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in December of 2023.
Pine River Area's win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.5 points per game. As for Evart, their defeat ended a six-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-2.
Evart couldn't quite finish off Pine River Area in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 and fell 53-51. Thankfully for Evart, Nathan Marks (who almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
