Sioux City West-Sergeant Bluff-Luton Preview
Tuesday, January 8: Sioux City West (7-2) at No. 3 Sergeant Bluff-Luton (7-2) 7:00pm SIOUX CITY— These two Missouri River Conference opponents last met back in the season opener on Nov. 26. Sergeant Bluff-Luton was just coming off a semifinal…
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Continue ReadingTuesday, January 8: Sioux City West (7-2) at No. 3 Sergeant Bluff-Luton (7-2) 7:00pm
SIOUX CITY— These two Missouri River Conference opponents last met back in the season opener on Nov. 26. Sergeant Bluff-Luton was just coming off a semifinal appearance in the Class 3A state football playoffs and weren’t necessarily in basketball mode yet. Sioux City West put on an impressive offensive performance on its home floor by embarrassing the Warriors 75-52.
West’s Cliff McCray against Sergeant Bluff-Luton earlier this season. (GameTime Sports Photography)Things have been much different for Adam Vander Schaaf’s bunch since that dreadful night at West High School, as they’ve put that game in the rear view mirror and won seven of their last eight games. Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s only loss in that eight-game span came against unbeaten Sioux City East in overtime, where it lost 74-73 in the remaining seconds.
The trio made up of Sam DeMoss, Conner Groves and Daniel Wright have been firing on all cylinders. Adding sophomore Jake Layman to the mix has been critical to the Warriors’ success as well.
On the other hand, Sioux City West has been impressive thus far and has placed itself in the conference title race. The Wolverines are coming off a tough 78-58 loss at West Des Moines Valley on Saturday, where they trailed by only three points heading into the fourth quarter.
Senior point guard Cliff McCray continues to rack up numbers this season, as he averaged 17 points and nine rebounds in the Wolverines’ last two contests. Besides McCray, West has been getting solid play from both seniors Adien Belt and Micah McWell as well. Overall, this has been West’s most complete team in quite sometime.
Tuesday night’s matchup is likely do-or-die for both teams when it comes to winning the MRAC title. A third conference loss for Sergeant Bluff-Luton would likely eliminate it, while a second conference loss for West wouldn’t help its cause with Sioux City East still unbeaten. Both squads have good guard play and a talented big man down low, but the Warriors and Wolverines have multiple players that can step up and score points.
Chances are this will be a much different outcome than the one we saw earlier this season between these two teams. It will be a game of runs that should be decided in the remaining minutes of regulation.