Basketball Game Preview: Hayes Pacers vs. Westland Cougars

The Hayes Pacers will face off against the Westland Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hayes knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 14 matchups -- so hopefully Westland likes a good challenge.

Hayes is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Olentangy Berlin: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Hayes blew Olentangy Berlin out of the water with a 64-28 final score. The Pacers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Westland challenged Westerville South on Friday. Westland was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 73-72 to Westerville South. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Tuesday (56), the Cougars still had to take the loss.

Hayes will need to focus on slowing down Breaker Heller Jr., one of several Westland players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double with 28 points and ten boards. Heller Jr. has become a key player for Westland: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least ten rebounds, but 4-13 otherwise. Phoenix Funderburke was another key player, going 7 of 16 en route to 17 points in addition to six boards and five steals.

Even though they lost, Westland was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matchups.

Hayes is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.1 points over those games. As for Westland, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests, which has put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season.

Everything went Hayes' way against Westland when the teams last played back in January, as Hayes made off with an 85-64 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Heller Jr., who dropped a double-double with 18 points and 11 assists. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Hayes still be able to contain Heller Jr.? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.