Basketball Game Preview: Leo Lions vs. Prairie Heights Panthers

By Team Reports Jan 4, 2025, 1:57am

Basketball Preview: Leo Lions vs. Prairie Heights Panthers

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Leo has gone 3-0 against Prairie Heights recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Leo Lions challenge the Prairie Heights Panthers at 7:30 p.m.

Two weeks ago, Leo came up short against Huntington North and fell 55-44.

Leah Shappell

Assists

01/23/24 vs Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger7
12/21/24 vs Huntington North5
11/08/23 @ Fort Wayne Wayne4
12/05/24 @ Garrett4
11/26/24 vs South Adams4

Despite the loss, Leo got top-tier performance from Leah Shappell, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds. What's more, Shappell also racked up five assists, the most she's had since back in January of 2024. Emma Connally was another key player, putting up eight points and five rebounds.

Even though they lost, Leo smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in six consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Prairie Heights can finally bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Saturday. They took down West Noble 40-25.

Leo better keep an eye on Emily McCrea. She was instrumental in Prairie Heights' win, almost dropping a double-double on 22 points and nine boards. That makes it five consecutive games in which McCrea has scored at least a third of Prairie Heights' points. The team also got some help courtesy of Peyton Gibson, who posted three points and seven steals.

Prairie Heights' victory ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-9. As for Leo, their defeat was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 8-7.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Leo has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 30.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Prairie Heights struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Leo beat Prairie Heights 44-36 when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Will Leo repeat their success, or does Prairie Heights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps