The Sterling Jets and the Pawnee City Indians will round out the year against one another at at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
Sterling is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against East Butler on Saturday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Sterling might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting East Butler an easy 65-39 victory. The Jets were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 65-15.
The losing side was boosted by Brody Horstman, who went 6 for 14 on his way to 14 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Colin Wambold, who posted ten points.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pawnee City). The stars were shining brightly for them in a 63-45 win over Lourdes Central Catholic last Tuesday. Given the Indians' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 37th, while the Knights are ranked 210th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Pawnee City's win came from a few key players Sterling will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jett Farwell, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 11 rebounds. His evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Anthony Kling was another key player, going 8 of 18 on his way to 24 points and seven rebounds.
Pawnee City smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in eight consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Pawnee City's victory bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Sterling, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Sterling has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 20.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Pawnee City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Sterling might still be hurting after the 52-27 loss they got from Pawnee City in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kling, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 13 boards. Now that Sterling knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
