Basketball Game Preview: Highline Pirates vs. Mercer Island Islanders

The Highline Pirates will head out on the road to challenge the Mercer Island Islanders at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

If Mercer Island heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Highline took over last week. Highline had just enough and edged Washington out 67-65.

Highline's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Corey Crosby, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Jai'Lyn Chavers, who went 9 of 18 on his way to 18 points and five rebounds. Crosby has been hot, having posted nine or more boards the last six times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Xavier Jefferson-Warren, who posted six points and seven rebounds.

Highline smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in seven consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Mercer Island beat Verbum Dei Jesuit 58-53 on Monday. Given the Islanders' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 94th in Washington, while the Eagles are ranked 534th in California), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Mercer Island had a senior duo take command as William McDonald had 20 points and five rebounds and Michael Mcdonald went 6 of 10 from beyond the arc on his way to 20 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Mcdonald has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristen Cruzen, who put up 11 points and five rebounds.

Mercer Island now has a winning record of 6-5. As for Highline, their victory bumped their record up to 4-5.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Highline hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.9 points per game. However, it's not like Mercer Island struggles in that department as they've been averaging 55.9 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.