Valparaiso was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They lost 72-52 to the South Bend St. Joseph Huskies. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 191st, while the Huskies are ranked 16th).
When it comes to explaining why Valparaiso lost, don't look at Caden Crowell. Despite the final result, he went 6 of 12 on his way to 17 points and seven rebounds. Crowell continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Kj Avery, who posted 11 points.
South Bend St. Joseph's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Chase Konieczny, who went 9 of 20 on his way to 25 points along with seven boards and three steals. The match was Konieczny's seventh in a row with at least ten points. Nick Shrewsberry was another key player, going 6 of 15 on his way to 17 points and five steals.
Valparaiso's loss dropped their record down to 4-7. As for South Bend St. Joseph, the victory keeps them at an undefeated 9-0.
Valparaiso will get a bit of extra time to process the defeat as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Portage at 7:00 p.m. on January 10th. Portage is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57.7 points per game this season. As for South Bend St. Joseph, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 76-61 loss against Zionsville on the 28th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
