Basketball Game Preview: Maconaquah Braves vs. Whitko Wildcats

The Maconaquah Braves will venture away from home to take on the Whitko Wildcats at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday. Maconaquah knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past six contests -- so hopefully Whitko likes a good challenge.

On Saturday, Maconaquah needed a bit of extra time to put away Peru. They came out on top against the Tigers by a score of 71-63.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Maconaquah to victory, but perhaps none more so than AJ Kelly, who went 6 for 15 on his way to 18 points in addition to seven assists and six steals. Kelly has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 12 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Josiah Ball, who almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine boards.

Maconaquah smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Peru only pulled down 11 offensive rebounds.

Meanwhile, Whitko came up short against Covenant Christian on Saturday and fell 63-52. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 368th, while the Warriors are ranked 172nd).

Maconaquah's win was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 81.3 points per game. As for Whitko, their loss dropped their record down to 2-6.

Maconaquah didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Whitko when the teams last played back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 60-55 victory. Does Maconaquah have another victory up their sleeve, or will Whitko turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.