Two dominant guards in Jade Kitchens and Kerri Fluellen are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Washington County Golden Hawks and the Josey Eagles will round out the year against one another at at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. Washington County is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.7 points per game this season.
Josey is hoping to do what Warren County couldn't on Friday: put an end to Washington County's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Washington County blew past Warren County 65-21. The Golden Hawks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 20 points or more this season.
| 02/02/24 @ Westside | 12 |
| 02/06/24 vs Laney | 9 |
| 12/20/24 @ Warren County | 7 |
| 01/10/24 vs Westside | 7 |
| 01/30/24 vs Putnam County | 7 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Washington County to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kitchens, who went 7 of 8 on her way to 17 points along with seven assists and five steals. That's the most assists Kitchens has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of Makayla Dunn, who went 7 for 10 en route to 17 points and five steals.
Kitchens wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Washington County was working as a unit and finished the game with 25 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Josey faced St. Francis in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Saturday. Josey fell 76-68 to St. Francis. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Saturday (67), the Eagles still had to take the loss.
Washington County will have to contain Fluellen as she made an impact in Josey's last game. She almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine boards. Fluellen is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed three or more in the last 38 games she's played dating back to last season. Za?Miyah Jenkins Z was another key player, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 18 boards.
Washington County pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.4 points per game. As for Josey, they moved to 7-1 with that loss, which also ended their seven-game winning streak.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Washington County has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 26.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Josey struggles in that department as they've been averaging 45.6 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Washington County was taken down by Josey 63-23 in their previous matchup back in February. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Washington County was down 33-12.
