Preview: Southwood Knights vs. Manchester Squires
Southwood and Manchester are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. Both teams will round out the year against one another at 4:45 p.m. on Friday at. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Southwood can finally bid farewell to their four-game losing streak thanks to their game on Tuesday. The stars were shining brightly for them in a 57-40 win over Southern Wells. That 57-40 margin sets a new team best for Southwood this season.
Southwood got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Will Winer out in front who scored ten points along with five steals. The game was Winer's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Maddox Marshall, who scored 13 points along with four steals.
Manchester has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matches by 29 points or more this season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Lewis Cass 66-37 on the road. The victory was just what Manchester needed coming off of a 72-42 loss in their prior contest.
Gavin Betten continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 32 points along with eight rebounds and four steals. That makes it eight consecutive games in which he has scored at least 25% of Manchester's points. Gavin Martin was another key contributor, scoring five points along with eight assists and five rebounds.
Southwood's win bumped their record up to 2-4. As for Manchester, they pushed their record up to 7-1 with that victory, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the pair are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Southwood hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 56.3 points per game. It's a different story for Manchester, though, as they've been averaging only 64.9 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Southwood ended up a good deal behind Manchester in their previous matchup last Friday, losing 70-55. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Betten, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 17 rebounds. Now that Southwood knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
