Basketball Game Preview: Cusick Panthers vs. Curlew Cougars

Cusick hasn't had much luck against Curlew recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Cusick Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Curlew Cougars at 6:00 p.m. Both are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.

Last Friday, Cusick made easy work of Mary Walker and carried off a 41-15 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.

Meanwhile, Curlew put another one in the bag on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive. They put the hurt on Oroville with a sharp 44-18 victory. The Cougars pushed the score to 38-10 by the end of the third, a deficit the Hornets cut but never quite recovered from.

Cusick better focus on containing Annika Baker and Theia Grady as the pair were huge in Curlew's win. Baker went 6 for 9 on her way to 16 points, to go along with seven rebounds and four steals, while Grady went 7 for 12 on her way to 14 points and five steals. The dominant performance gave Grady a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ciana Patterson, who posted two points and six boards.

Cusick's win ended a six-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-0. As for Curlew, their victory bumped their record up to 3-0.

Cusick suffered a grim 48-25 defeat to Curlew in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Baker, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 boards. Now that Cusick knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.