Preview: Saugerties Sawyers vs. Wallkill Panthers
Saugerties is on a four-game streak of home wins, while Wallkill is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Saugerties Sawyers will take on the Wallkill Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Saugerties put the finishing touches on their sixth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 52-31 margin over Spackenkill. The victory was just what Saugerties needed coming off of a 62-26 defeat in their prior game.
Saugerties can attribute much of their success to Sammie Graham, who scored 12 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks, and Viola Myers, who scored 13 points along with four blocks. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Myers has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Natalie Tucker, who scored seven points along with six assists and two steals.
Meanwhile, Wallkill didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Beacon on Tuesday, but they still walked away with a 54-48 victory. Given Wallkill's advantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 37th, while Beacon is ranked 213th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Saugerties is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. As for Wallkill, their victory bumped their record up to 12-3.
Saugerties suffered a grim 61-36 defeat to Wallkill in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Wallkill's Zoe Mesuch, who scored 27 points along with eight steals. Now that Saugerties knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
