Elkhorn South is 6-0 against Omaha Northwest since February of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Elkhorn South Storm will take on the Omaha Northwest Huskies in a holiday battle at 1:45 p.m. at. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Elkhorn South's 17-7 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They took a 61-49 hit to the loss column at the hands of Papillion-LaVista South on Saturday. While losing is never fun, Elkhorn South can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 185th, while Papillion-LaVista South is ranked 20th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Aidan Skradis, who scored 18 points. He scored a full 36.7% of Elkhorn South's points, the sixth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lincoln Schwarz, who scored ten points along with five rebounds.
Elkhorn South struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only two offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, this season hasn't been kind to Omaha Northwest, who are still winless after their fifth matchup. They were beaten by Kearney 84-41 on Saturday. Omaha Northwest has not had much luck with Kearney recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Despite their loss, Omaha Northwest saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Dontae McDowell, who scored eight points, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Shawn Barnes, who scored eight points.
This is the second loss in a row for Elkhorn South and nudges their season record down to 2-4. As for Omaha Northwest, they bumped their record down to 0-5 with that loss, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Elkhorn South hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 50.3 points per game. It's a different story for Omaha Northwest, though, as they've been averaging only 45.8 points per game. The only thing between Elkhorn South and another offensive beatdown is Omaha Northwest. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Everything went Elkhorn South's way against Omaha Northwest in their previous meeting back in January as Elkhorn South made off with a 83-63 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Elkhorn South since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
