Basketball Game Preview: Cass Lake-Bena Panthers vs. Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers

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Previous 3 Games

01/22/24 - Home	83-72 W
01/23/23 - Away	104-77 W
12/30/21 - Neutral	81-64 W

Cass Lake-Bena has gone 3-0 against Mountain Iron-Buhl recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. Both will round out the year against one another at at 4:45 p.m. Cass Lake-Bena knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past eight matchups -- so hopefully Mountain Iron-Buhl likes a good challenge.

Last Friday, Cass Lake-Bena didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Fosston, but they still walked away with a 58-54 win. The 58-point effort marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Meanwhile, Mountain Iron-Buhl entered their tilt with Hill City on Thursday with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. They put the hurt on the Hornets with a sharp 85-65 victory. The Rangers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Mountain Iron-Buhl's win came from a few key players Cass Lake-Bena will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tj Duchamp, who went 11 for 23 on his way to 25 points in addition to six assists and four steals. His evening made it seven games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Micaden Clines, who went 9 for 17 on his way to 23 points in addition to eight assists and five boards.

Mountain Iron-Buhl's win was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 36.4 points. As for Cass Lake-Bena, the victory got them back to even at 4-4.

Cass Lake-Bena beat Mountain Iron-Buhl 83-72 when the teams last played back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cass Lake-Bena since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.