Middleburgh and Mayfield are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The Middleburgh Knights will be playing at home against the Mayfield Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Middleburgh is looking for their season's first win.
Middleburgh is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Galway on Wednesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Middleburgh was beaten by Galway 43-14. The Knights were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 28-6.
Emma Lacko was Middleburgh's leading scorer, having posted seven points. Kaylynn Layton held things down on the boards with nine rebounds. Lyla Kowalski took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Mayfield). The stars were shining brightly for them in a 72-54 victory over Canajoharie on Wednesday. The Panthers pushed the score to 59-38 by the end of the third, a deficit the Cougars cut but never quite recovered from.
Middleburgh better keep an eye on Brianna Iannuzzi. She was instrumental in Mayfield's win, putting up 32 points in addition to six steals and five boards. That makes it five consecutive games in which Iannuzzi has scored at least a third of Mayfield's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Abigail Powers, who posted 16 points along with five assists and five boards.
Mayfield smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 11 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Middleburgh's defeat dropped their record down to 0-4. As for Mayfield, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Middleburgh has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 20.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Mayfield struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.6 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Middleburgh took a serious blow against Mayfield in their previous meeting back in January, falling 80-27. Thankfully for Middleburgh, Cloey Dopp (who had 24 points and six steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
