Haywood hasn't had much luck against Fayette Ware recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Haywood Tomcats will challenge the Fayette Ware Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Haywood sitting on five straight victories and Fayette Ware on four.
If Haywood beats Fayette Ware with 55 points on Monday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. Haywood enjoyed a cozy 55-41 win over Bolivar Central on Friday. Given the Tomcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 163rd, while the Tigers are ranked 334th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Camariya Woodland, who almost dropped a double-double with 27 points and nine boards. That makes it four consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Haywood's points. Jakhia Hall was another key player, almost dropping a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Haywood smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Fayette Ware won against Bolton on Wednesday with 53 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Fayette Ware beat Bolton by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 53-27. Fayette Ware has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 matchups by 20 points or more this season.
Fayette Ware's win came from a few key players Haywood will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ke'Miyah Buggs, who posted 16 points in addition to eight boards and eight steals. Buggs is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least three every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Victory McKinnie, who scored 12 points along with seven steals and five rebounds.
Haywood's victory bumped their record up to 14-9. As for Fayette Ware, their win bumped their record up to 16-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Haywood has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 33.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Fayette Ware struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Haywood didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Fayette Ware in their previous matchup on February 7th, but they still walked away with a 52-47 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Haywood since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
