Basketball Preview: Zionsville Eagles vs. McCutcheon Mavericks
Zionsville is 9-1 against McCutcheon since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Zionsville Eagles will face off against the McCutcheon Mavericks at 12:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Zionsville finally turned things around against Kokomo on Monday. They enjoyed a cozy 63-44 win over the Wildkats. The Eagles pushed the score to 53-30 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wildkats cut but never quite recovered from.
Zionsville relied on the efforts of Mckenzie Chapman, who went 7 for 13 en route to 20 points plus eight assists and four steals, and Emily Zack, who almost dropped a double-double on 18 points and nine rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Zack a new career-high in assists (four). Another player making a difference was Caroline Sampson, who had five points plus nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, McCutcheon entered their tilt with Tri-West Hendricks on Wednesday with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Bruins 65-30. The Mavericks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matches by 26 points or more this season.
McCutcheon can attribute much of their success to Lillie Graves, who went 10 for 20 en route to 22 points plus five assists and three steals, and Braelyn Williams, who had 13 points plus six rebounds and two steals. Graves is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last seven games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Keara Lipscomb-Allen, who posted nine points in addition to three steals.
McCutcheon smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
McCutcheon's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 39 points. As for Zionsville, the win got them back to even at 3-3.
Saturday's contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Chapman and Graves. Chapman has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 16.3 points. For her part, Graves has averaged 16.7 points.
Zionsville didn't have too much breathing room in their game against McCutcheon in their previous matchup back in January of 2022, but they still walked away with a 72-66 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was McCutcheon's Teresa Maggio, who went 10 for 19 en route to 37 points plus six assists and six rebounds. Now that she won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for Zionsville to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
