Wayne is 8-2 against Norfolk Catholic since February of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Wayne Blue Devils will host the Norfolk Catholic Knights at 7:30 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Thursday.
Wayne will head into Tuesday's match on the come-up: they were handed a heart-breaking three-point defeat in their last game, but they sure didn't let that happen against Guardian Angels Central Catholic on Tuesday. Wayne took their contest with ease, bagging a 63-34 victory over Guardian Angels Central Catholic. Given the Blue Devils' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Bluejays are ranked 174th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/07/25 vs Guardian Angels Central Catholic | 20 |
| 12/20/24 vs West Point-Beemer | 18 |
| 12/09/23 vs Lakeview | 15 |
| 12/08/23 @ Wahoo | 14 |
| 01/20/24 vs Laurel-Concord-Coleridge | 14 |
Gavin Redden and Jace Jorgensen were among the main playmakers for Wayne as the former went 8 of 11 on his way to 20 points and three steals and the latter almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 11 rebounds. The dominant performance gave Redden a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaxson Kneifl, who posted ten points.
Meanwhile, Norfolk Catholic made easy work of Winnebago on Thursday and carried off a 63-41 win. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matches by 21 points or more this season.
Wayne better keep an eye on Gavin Schutt. He was instrumental in Norfolk Catholic's win, dropping a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Aiden Corr, who went 7 of 11 on his way to 14 points.
Norfolk Catholic pushed their record up to 7-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 25.5 points. As for Wayne, their win bumped their record up to 10-1.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Wayne and Norfolk Catholic are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Wayne hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 56.4 points per game. However, it's not like Norfolk Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 61.7 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Wayne came up short against Norfolk Catholic in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 56-43. Thankfully for Wayne, Nolan Fennessy (who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 16 boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
