Basketball Game Preview: Waynesville Spartans vs. Edgewood Cougars

The Waynesville Spartans will venture away from home to square off against the Edgewood Cougars at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Waynesville has five straight victories, Edgewood has seven straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Waynesville is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Madison: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Waynesville blew Madison out of the water with a 69-32 final score. The Spartans have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 matches by 22 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Edgewood played a tough game on Thursday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt a 70-40 defeat at the hands of Ross. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 655th, while the Rams are ranked 160th).

Waynesville will need to focus on slowing down Ella Allen, one of several Edgewood players who made an impact when they last played. She posted nine points. What's more, Allen also posted a 57% shooting accuracy, which is the highest she's posted since back in December of 2024.

Waynesville's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-4. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.5 points. As for Edgewood, their loss dropped their record down to 2-19.

Everything came up roses for Waynesville against Edgewood when the teams last played back in January of 2024, as the team secured a 67-39 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Edgewood's Rylie Homan, who went 7 of 14 en route to 19 points and five steals. Now that she won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for Waynesville to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.