Logansport is in the midst of perhaps the most difficult stretch of its schedule.
The Berries (4-8) are coming off a lopsided loss to Lafayette Jeff earlier in the week. Things won’t get any easier tonight when another former NCC opponent, the Kokomo Wildkats (8-2), come to town.
It’s a girls-boys doubleheader with the girls game tipping off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game at 7:30.
The Wildkats are dealing with the loss of Mr. Basketball Flory Bidunga, who is averaging 6.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 13 minutes per game for the Kansas Jayhawks, who are ranked 11th in the nation.
But there hasn’t been much of a dropoff for the Wildkats this year despite the loss of Bidunga.
The Wildkats are actually scoring 10 more points per game this season, averaging 80 ppg. Their average point differential of plus 14 ppg is just five points less than last season.
“I believe they’re leading the state in scoring right now, so they’re very talented offensively,” Logansport coach Matt Lange said. “They shoot a lot of three-point shots. I’m not sure they’re not just as good as they were last year.”
The Wildkats nearly have five players averaging in double figures and are led by Zion Bellamy (21.7 ppg), Korbyn Hammel (16 ppg) and Adayveon Young (11.8 ppg).
“They’re another really good 4A basketball team,” Lange said. “These games are stacked right here together. I said about a month ago this 10-game stretch we got coming here — and this is the end of it when Western comes to town — is incredible. It’s like a meat grinder. These two teams are very good.”
The Berries (0-2 HC East) host the Hoosier Conference East Division champion Western Panthers (8-4, 2-0) on Saturday night. The Panthers are coached by former Winamac coach and Twin Lakes player Cameron Bennington.
The Panthers have a balanced attack led by Carter Biggs (12.8 ppg), Hunter Biggs (9.8 ppg) and Eli Mast (9.1 ppg).
“They’re also very good,” Lange said. “They’re a little bit different than what we’ll play with Kokomo and what we played with Lafayette Jeff. They’re a little bit different team, but they’re very well put together, very well coached team and definitely be a challenge for us. I know Cayden Walker’s coming back as of the Kokomo game, so we’ll have him back on Saturday also for the Western game. So hopefully we can get back to a little bit what we were doing prior to the Christmas break and start working towards March.”
The Berries have been down two starting guards since after they won the county tournament the third game of the season in early December. Walker is set to return tonight against Kokomo. Lange is hoping that his son, Logan Lange, can return from his broken hand injury soon.
Chris Del Valle is averaging 13.8 ppg to lead the Berries. R.J. Clem is averaging 10.3 ppg and 9.5 rpg. Carson Dubes adds 7 ppg.
NORTHFIELD (6-4, 1-1 TRC) AT CASS (2-7, 0-3)
Cass has a double weekend of TRC games starting tonight when Northfield visits town.
The Norsemen enter on a three-game win streak and have won five of their last six.
Carter Rodgers averages 14.5 ppg to led the Norse. Cody Holmes, a 6-5 freshman, adds 9.4 ppg and 7.2 rpg.
The Kings travel to Manchester (10-1, 2-0) on Saturday night. Gavin Betten, a 6-7 senior who is headed to Grace College, averages 24.7 ppg and 12.1 rpg to lead the Squires. Ethan Hendrix adds 17.5 ppg.
The Kings have a balanced attack, led by Trey Johnson (8.9 ppg), Brennan Deeter (8.4 ppg), Bryce Rudd (7.2 ppg) and Brody Hillis (7 ppg).
CASTON (3-5, 0-0 HNAC) AT CULVER (1-7, 0-2)
The Comets are looking to build off their win at North Miami in holiday tournament play when they travel to Culver tonight for their HNAC opener.
The Cavaliers enter on a five-game skid. There will be a 7 p.m. varsity-only start time.
The Comets return home to host Delphi (6-4) Saturday night. The Oracles enter having won two straight and three of four. The Oracles host Carroll tonight.
Lane Hook is averaging 13.6 ppg and 6.1 rpg to lead the Comets. Logan Mollenkopf is averaging 10.9 ppg and Gavin Mollenkopf adds 8.9 ppg.
PIONEER (5-4) AT FRONTIER (5-5)
The Panthers have a pair of non-conference games, starting with Frontier tonight.
The Falcons have a three-point win over Rossville and a 10-point win over Caston this season.
The Panthers return home to host Faith Christian (1-8) Saturday night. The Eagles are coming off a one-point loss to Delphi earlier this week.
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