Basketball Recap: Tri-County Beats Pioneer for Their Fifth Straight Victory

Cavaliers

Margin (Wins)

11/26/24 @ South Newton	64
02/04/25 vs North Newton	47
01/28/25 @ Delphi Community	47
11/09/24 vs Pioneer	44
01/09/25 vs North Newton	38

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Tri-County had no problem doing just that on Monday. They blew past the Pioneer Panthers 53-27. The Cavaliers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 17 contests by 20 points or more this season.

Sara Zarse was her usual excellent self, going 10-for-13 on her way to 25 points along with six boards and four blocks. She is also on a roll when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy, as she's posted one of at least 40% in the last four games she's played. Another player making a difference was Hannah Arvin, who posted 11 points.

Tri-County was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pioneer only racked up three assists.

Despite the loss, Pioneer still got an impressive performance from Makenna Strycker, who went 6-for-12 en route to 20 points in addition to five rebounds and four steals. That was a full 74.1% of Pioneer's points, marking the 11th time in a row she's had more than a third of the team's points.

The victory was the fifth in a row for Tri-County, bringing their record for this year to 22-2. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy: their three-point shooting accuracy was 34.4% in those games and 25% outside of them. As for Pioneer, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last eight games, which has put a noticeable dent in their 12-13 record this season.

Looking ahead, Tri-County will take on Marquette Catholic at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tri-County's defense has only allowed 29.3 points per game this season, so Marquette Catholic's offense will have their work cut out for them. Pioneer does not have any more games scheduled as of now.