Basketball Game Preview: Highland Park Scots vs. West Chargers

The Highland Park Scots will challenge the West Chargers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Highland Park is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58 points per game this season.

Last Wednesday, everything went Highland Park's way against Atchison as Highland Park made off with a 61-38 victory. Given the Scots' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 104th, while the Phoenix are ranked 262nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Highland Park relied on the efforts of Pearmella Carter, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 15 boards, and Zayah Kincade, who posted 15 points and three steals. Carter's evening made it seven games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Majesty Grace, who had four points and four steals.

Highland Park smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in seven consecutive games.

Meanwhile, West had to suffer through a 67-39 loss at the hands of Shawnee Heights. The defeat continues a trend for the Chargers in their matchups with the Thunderbirds: they've now lost seven in a row.

Highland Park pushed their record up to 7-1 with the win, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 25.0 points per game. As for West, their loss dropped their record down to 1-8.

Highland Park was able to grind out a solid victory over West in their previous matchup back in February of 2022, winning 47-36. The rematch might be a little tougher for Highland Park since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.