After both having extra time off, the DeMotte Christian Knights and the Tri-County Cavaliers will shake off the cobwebs and square off against one another at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Last Saturday, DeMotte Christian came up short against Bethany Christian and fell 65-52. The Knights haven't had much luck with the Bruins recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Tony Bos, who went 9 of 21 en route to 22 points and six rebounds. That was a full 42.3% of DeMotte Christian's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tanyon Bakker, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 15 points.
Meanwhile, Tri-County ended the year with a bang, routing South Bend Career Academy 49-27 last Saturday.
Tri-County's win came from a few key players DeMotte Christian will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Trey Foster, who had nine points. Those nine points gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Grayson Schneider, who posted seven points and six rebounds.
Tri-County has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 3-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.5 points per game. As for DeMotte Christian, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: DeMotte Christian has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 24.2 boards per game. However, it's not like Tri-County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 21.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
DeMotte Christian took their victory against Tri-County when the teams last played back in January of 2024 by a conclusive 60-40. Will DeMotte Christian repeat their success, or does Tri-County have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
