The Central basketball teams return to conference play this afternoon, hosting Coe in a women’s-men’s doubleheader. The Dutch women are off to an 8-3 start to the season, coming off a close win over Fontbonne on Monday. Coe is off to a 7-4 start, and is 2-1 in conference games. At 0-2 in the conference Central head coach Joe Steinkamp says that this first stretch of games in 2020 is going to be very important for his team.

“These games are going to be really big for us. Coe and Luther are two teams that finished ahead of us in the standings last year, and we’re really hoping to be able to play with those guys. So we’re just really excited for that.”

The Kohawk men are 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference. They’re coming off an exhilarating double overtime road win over upstart Buena Vista on Thursday, in a game that was rescheduled due to a winter storm in early December. It’s not a team with any big-name players in the league, but they come in with a balanced lineup that can exploit opponents in a lot of ways. The 4-7 Dutch men will have to dig deep to try to end a three game skid, including two losses last weekend in Las Vegas.

Today’s doubleheader begins at 2:00 p.m. inside P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Jon Mohwinkle will broadcast the games live on 92.1 KRLS, with pregame coverage starting at 1:45.