The Harbor Creek Huskies and the Meadville Bulldogs will meet in a canine-themed contest at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Harbor Creek is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.6 points per game this season.
Harbor Creek fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Marion Harding on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell to the Presidents 54-49. While losing is never fun, the Huskies can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 260th in Pennsylvania, while the Presidents are ranked 101st in Ohio).
Despite their defeat, Harbor Creek saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. JT Delsandro, who posted 15 points and five rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Tucker Chwatek was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 14 points and nine boards.
Meanwhile, Meadville's undefeated season came to an end after seven games on Saturday. They fell just short of Lower Merion by a score of 61-58. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (56), the Bulldogs still had to take the loss.
Like Harbor Creek, Meadville lost despite seeing results from several players. Lucas Luteran led the charge by putting up ten points along with seven boards and five assists. Luteran is also crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least three every time he's taken the court this season. Jack Burchard was another key player, dropping a double-double on 15 points and ten boards.
Even though they lost, Meadville smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 17 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Harbor Creek has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-5 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.5 points per game. As for Meadville, their loss was their first of the season and makes their record 7-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Harbor Creek has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 24.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Meadville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Harbor Creek suffered a grim 78-57 defeat to Meadville when the teams last played back in February of 2024. Can Harbor Creek avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
