Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Penn). They put the hurt on the New Prairie Cougars with a sharp 73-49 victory on Thursday. Given the Kingsmen's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 82nd, while the Cougars are ranked 411th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Penn's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Caleb Coolman led the charge by putting up 20 points in addition to eight rebounds and six assists. Coolman's evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Makale Price was another key player, earning 14 points and eight boards.
Kingsmen
| 01/14/25 @ Warsaw | 12 |
| 01/16/25 @ New Prairie | 20 |
| 02/13/24 vs Plymouth | 20 |
| 12/01/23 vs South Bend Clay | 19 |
| 12/21/24 vs Chesterton | 17 |
Coolman wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Penn was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in February of 2024.
Despite the loss, New Prairie saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Brody Wiginton shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine rebounds. Wiginton also set a new season-high mark in steals with three. Another player making a difference was Dylan Bishop, who posted ten points.
Penn is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.8 points per game. As for New Prairie, they dropped their record down to 2-9 with the defeat, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.
Penn will challenge Northridge at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Northridge knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 11 games -- so hopefully Penn likes a good challenge. As for New Prairie, they will venture away from home to face off against LaVille at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
