Preview: Carrollton Hawks vs. Southwestern Piasa Birds
The Carrollton Hawks will be home for the holidays to greet the Southwestern Piasa Birds at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Carrollton is coming into the contest hot, having won their last four games.
Last Thursday, Carrollton beat Pleasant Hill/Western 49-42. Given Carrollton's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 220th, while Pleasant Hill/Western is ranked 577th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Lauren Flowers, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. The contest was her 11th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Harper Darr, who scored five points along with eight steals.
Meanwhile, Southwestern earned a 39-26 victory over Lincolnwood on Saturday. The win was just what Southwestern needed coming off of a 53-33 defeat in their prior matchup.
Southwestern found their leader in underclassman Vivian Zurheide, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds. That makes it seven consecutive games in which Zurheide has scored at least 25% of Southwestern's points. Samantha Stormer was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
Carrollton has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. As for Southwestern, their victory ended a six-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 6-6.
Tuesday's game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Carrollton have been dynamite from deep this season, having only made 36.5% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Southwestern, though, as they've only made 30.8% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for Carrollton against Southwestern in their previous matchup back in December of 2022 as the squad secured a 51-14 win. Will Carrollton repeat their success, or does Southwestern have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
