Basketball Preview: Wyandanch Warriors vs. Miller Place Panthers
Wyandanch is 2-8 against the Panthers since November of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Wyandanch Warriors will be playing in front of their home fans against the Miller Place Panthers at 5:15 p.m. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with nine consecutive losses dating back to last season for Wyandanch and five for the Panthers.
Last Tuesday, Wyandanch came up short against the Kingsmen and fell 50-40. While losing is never fun, Wyandanch can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 627th, while the Kingsmen are ranked 214th).
Meanwhile, Miller Place was the victim of a rough 56-35 defeat at the hands of the Golden Flashes on Thursday. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Miller Place in their matchups with the Golden Flashes: they've now lost nine in a row.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Julie Orenzo, who scored 13 points. She continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. Ava Zicchinelli was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
Wyandanch's defeat was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-6. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 27.8 points per game. As for Miller Place, they have not been sharp recently as the team's lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-10 record this season.
Wyandanch lost to the Panthers at home by a decisive 62-47 margin in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Zicchinelli, who scored 22 points. Now that Wyandanch knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
