Preview: McDonough Rams vs. Patuxent Panthers
The McDonough Rams will be playing at home against the Patuxent Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (McDonough has three straight wins, Patuxent has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
McDonough posted their closest win yet this season on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged Chopticon out 36-34.
Cailyn Samuel was her usual excellent self, scoring 16 points along with seven steals. Samuel is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Mikayla King, who scored six points along with six rebounds and six steals.
Patuxent suffered their biggest defeat since December 6, 2023 on Wednesday. Their tough 53-28 loss to Westlake might stick with them for a while. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Patuxent in their matchups with Westlake: they've now lost eight in a row.
Defeat or not, Patuxent got some senior leadership from Ailish Fockler and Kendall Fean. Fockler scored seven points along with nine rebounds and three steals, while Fean. scored four points along with three steals. That's the first time this season that Fean grabbed two or more steals.
McDonough has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. As for Patuxent, their loss was their 12th straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 3-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: McDonough have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 36.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Patuxent struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 28.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
McDonough beat Patuxent 45-32 when the teams last played back in December of 2023. Will McDonough repeat their success, or does Patuxent have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
