Basketball Game Preview: Westmoreland Eagles vs. Essex Trojans

The Westmoreland Eagles will take on the Essex Trojans at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Westmoreland sitting on 11 straight wins and Essex on six.

Westmoreland is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat Northumberland 56-23. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Essex on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Lancaster out of the water with a 53-16 final score. The Trojans have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 22 points or more this season.

Essex's win came from a few key players Westmoreland will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Morgan Self, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten boards. She has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more blocks the last nine times she's played. Another player making a difference was Aryeon Robinson, who posted ten points in addition to five assists and four steals.

Essex smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 26 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Westmoreland pushed their record up to 14-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.6 points per game. As for Essex, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a massive bump to their 10-6 record this season.

Westmoreland was able to grind out a solid victory over Essex when the teams last played back in January, winning 47-35. The rematch might be a little tougher for Westmoreland since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.