Basketball Game Preview: Chesapeake Cougars vs. Guilford Park Panther

Having just played yesterday, the Chesapeake Cougars will jump right back in to play the Guilford Park Panther at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Chesapeake has six straight victories, Guilford Park has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Chesapeake will head into Friday's contest having proved themselves against Bryn Mawr: Chesapeake took a 33-point defeat the last time they faced off against Bryn Mawr, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. Chesapeake sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 47-44 win over Bryn Mawr on Friday.

Chesapeake's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kendall Kotofski led the charge by putting up nine points in addition to seven steals and six boards. Those seven steals gave Kotofski a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Kiery Matkins, who went 6 of 11 on her way to 18 points and five rebounds.

Chesapeake smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in six consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Guilford Park played a tough matchup last Wednesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting Reservoir an easy 67-42 victory. While losing is never fun, the Panther can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Maryland basketball rankings (they are ranked 159th, while the 'Gators are ranked 34th).

Chesapeake's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-0. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.2 points per game. As for Guilford Park, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.