Preview: Conestoga Cougars vs. Palmyra Panthers
The Conestoga Cougars will be playing at home against the Palmyra Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing is sure in Conestoga's favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while Palmyra has been banged up by ten consecutive losses on the road.
Even though Nebraska City scored an imposing 61 points on Tuesday, Conestoga still came out on top. Conestoga walked away with a 68-61 win over Nebraska City. Given Conestoga's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 51st, while Nebraska City is ranked 218th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Conestoga's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Owen Trofholz, who scored 32 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Trofholz has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Zachariah Smith, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Palmyra scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. Everything went their way against Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer as Palmyra made off with a 64-43 win. The team's offensive explosion also rewarded Palmyra with their most commanding win of the season.
Drew Erhart continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, almost dropping a double-double on 28 points and nine rebounds. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Gou Kamishita, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds.
Conestoga is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 19-3 record this season. As for Palmyra, their win bumped their record up to 2-15.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Conestoga have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Palmyra struggles in that department as they've been averaging 20.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Conestoga's way against Palmyra in their previous matchup back in January as Conestoga made off with a 58-32 win. Will Conestoga repeat their success, or does Palmyra have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
