Pioneer’s boys basketball has won 11 straight games and is off to its best start since 1975. Meanwhile, Caston has won 10 in a row and is off to its best start since the undefeated regular season of 2005.

When the two arch-rivals meet tonight in Fulton, something has got to give.

“It’s a really big game,” Pioneer coach Pat Skaggs said. “I’m hoping there’ll be a nice crowd from Pioneer there. It should be an exciting atmosphere and a lot of fun. I know we’re looking forward to it and I’m sure Caston is as well.”

Caston coach Ben Snyder downplayed the significance of the contest, other than it’s big as far as the Midwest Conference standings are concerned.

“It’s a conference game like any other conference game,” he said. “In our players’ eyes it has the same meaning, for example if we beat Pioneer and lose to Tri-County it doesn’t mean a whole lot. ... Conference games are always bigger than regular games, so it means something to our kids.”

Caston enters 12-2 overall and 4-0 in the MWC, and Pioneer is 11-2 and 3-0.

A year ago Caston shared the league title with Winamac. But Pioneer got the last laugh, as the Panthers repeated as sectional champions with a win over the Comets in the title game.

In fact the Panthers had the Comets’ number last year, going 3-0 against them and handing them three of their 10 losses on the season. Caston has lost five straight to Pioneer, with the last win coming in the sectional title game three years ago.

But in the last two seasons Caston is 14-2 at home, with the only two losses coming against Carroll and Rochester last season.

“Caston does have a nice following for basketball,” Skaggs said. “It’s probably their advantage to be on their home court and it’ll be a good experience to go on the road and play there.”

Being arch-rivals and possible sectional opponents, the teams know each other very well.

“Games like that are usually a little more physical and more rugged,” Snyder said. “Both teams know each other so well, and both teams are prepared. Both teams have match-up problems both ways. It’ll be a challenge. Hopefully it’s a good game that will come down to the end and we’ll see what happens.”

The Comets are led in scoring by Quentin Douglass and Jake Howdeshell, who each average 18 points per game. Trevor Hoover adds 13 points and 8 rebounds per contest. Corey Moss adds 7 ppg.

Brandon Scruggs leads the Panthers in scoring, averaging 15 ppg. Carter Skaggs averages 12 ppg, and Matt Dorris is at 11 ppg. Dorris and Damon Coe both average around 7 rebounds per contest, and Scruggs adds 6 assists per game.

Snyder said he thinks Pioneer is a top 10 team in Class A, while Pat Skaggs added “no matter the outcome of the game, it’ll show us where we’re at right now.”

Both teams host Saturday night contest. Pioneer hosts Rossville (7-6), and Caston hosts Culver (8-6).

Logansport (9-4, 1-1 NCC) at New Castle (11-2, 1-2 NCC)

Since last week’s game against Richmond was snowed out and rescheduled for Valentine’s Day, it’s been a couple weeks since the Berries have been in game action.

“We’re ready to get back at it,” Logan coach Mark Victor said. “We’ve had a good week of practice. Hopefully the weather holds up.”

New Castle caught a tough break last week when junior sharp-shooter Steven Bennett went down with a season-ending knee injury. Bennett was scoring a team-high 18.5 ppg this season before he went down with what’s been described as a severe knee injury.

Jordan Richardson is the team’s second leading scorer at 12.2 ppg, followed by Korey Ryan (11.8), Joel Haler (7.5) and Kyle Goolsby (7.4).

“Even without Bennett they’re still very guard-oriented,” Victor said. “They’re a typical New Castle team with guys who can shoot from everywhere. We’ll have to defend the 3-point line, and they have a really good big kid in the middle in Goolsby, who’s a load inside.

“We’ll have to be solid on the offensive end and take care of the basketball and not get in a hurry. It’ll be a good test for us. They were ranked as high as 19 or 20 in 4A for awhile.”

Bennett, the son of New Castle coach Steve Bennett, injured his knee very early in last week’s game against Huntington North in which the Trojans were still able to win 52-49. Their two losses this season were a nine-point loss at Class 4A No. 7 Kokomo and a 30-point loss at Class 3A No. 1 Muncie Central.

Cass (4-7, 1-2 MIC) at Maconaquah (7-4, 2-1 MIC)

The Kings are trying to snap a four-game losing streak. They’re going up against a Braves squad that has won three in a row over Taylor, Eastern and Peru.

“Maconaquah has a very nice squad,” Cass coach Jon Kitchel said. “They’ve got a couple good shooters and the big boy inside, [Micah] Pier, who’s 6-8. The [Cole] Shafer kid is a nice outside shooter. They’ve just got a real nice team Luke [Zartman] has put together there.”

The Kings are trying to turn their fortunes around.

“I’ve said from the beginning that we’re sort of like pieces of a puzzle, and I would have hoped I would have had the pieces together before going into the 12th game of the season. We’re still in that process,” Kitchel said. “We’ve got a new design for [tonight] and we’ll see what clicks. Once we get a five that clicks we’ll establish the roles for the guys coming off the bench. We’ve had good bench play from some of the guys.

“We need to get where three or four are consistently scoring in double figures we can count on each game. That’s the direction we’re heading. Defensively we’re playing hard. We’ve got to get a combination put together.”

Cass hosts Clinton Central (2-9) on Saturday night.

Winamac (8-2, 1-0 MWC) at W. Central (3-11, 2-2 MWC)

The Warriors haven’t played in two weeks after last week’s game at Tri-County was postponed.

They’re facing a Trojans squad that has struggled at times this season, particularly on the offensive end, but played Pioneer to a hard-fought game last week that was a four-point game in the fourth quarter before the Panthers pulled away with an 11-point win.