Portland hasn't had much luck against Station Camp recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Portland Panthers will square off against the Station Camp Bison at 7:30 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
It was a proper cat-fight when Portland duked it out withGreenbrier on Tuesday. Portland took a 63-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of Greenbrier. While the Panthers didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Bobcats 23-18 in the first quarter.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Keilen Dalton, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds. Evan Brown also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.
Even though they lost, Portland smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Station Camp waltzed into their game on Wednesday with five straight wins... but they left with six. They walked away with a 60-52 victory over the Green Wave.
Station Camp's win came from a few key players Portland will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jp Strong, who went 6 of 9 from beyond the arc en route to 25 points. Those 25 points gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ty Thurston, who went 6 for 11 on his way to 17 points and six assists.
Station Camp is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.6 points per game. As for Portland, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-13.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Portland has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28 boards per game. However, it's not like Station Camp struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Portland ended up a good deal behind Station Camp in their previous matchup on January 14th, losing 63-44. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Thurston, who went 6 of 14 en route to 17 points along with seven boards and four steals. Now that Portland knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
