Basketball Game Preview: Mingo Central Miners vs. James Monroe Mavericks

The Mingo Central Miners will square off against the James Monroe Mavericks at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Mingo Central took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They claimed a resounding 73-29 win over Mount View. The Miners have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 34 points or more this season.

Addie Smith continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 11 of 23 on her way to 34 points along with seven assists and seven boards. That makes it six consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Mingo Central's points. Another player making a difference was DaLaney Grimmett, who went 6 for 10 en route to 15 points and seven rebounds.

They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Mingo Central was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in December of 2023.

Meanwhile, James Monroe had already won 14 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18 points) and they went ahead and made it 15 on Friday. They took down the Bobcats 59-40.

James Monroe's victory was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-2. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.5 points per game. As for Mingo Central, their win bumped their record up to 9-5.

Mingo Central came up short against James Monroe in their previous matchup on Saturday, falling 51-44. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of James Monroe's Maggie Boroski, who went 11 of 18 on her way to 26 points and eight boards. Now that Mingo Central knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.