Preview: East Laurens Falcons vs. Dublin Fighting Irish
Two dominant guards in McKayela Tanner and Nahallie Turnley are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The East Laurens Falcons will head out on the road to take on the Dublin Fighting Irish at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Tuesday, East Laurens blew past Wheeler County, posting a 61-29 victory on the road. Given East Laurens' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 170th, while Wheeler County is ranked 485th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 25 to 5 on the offensive boards, a fact Dublin proved on Tuesday. They took their contest at home with ease, bagging a 57-24 win over Jefferson County. Dublin pushed the score to 55-21 by the end of the third, a deficit Jefferson County cut but never quite recovered from.
Dublin's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Caitlyn Nesbitt led the charge by scoring 12 points along with seven steals. Nesbitt hasn't dropped below three steals for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Turnley, who scored ten points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
East Laurens is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. As for Dublin, they pushed their record up to 17-6 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home.
East Laurens was able to grind out a solid win over Dublin in their previous matchup back in January, winning 49-42. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Turnley, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 14 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will East Laurens still be able to contain Turnley? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
