The Washburn Pirates just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Unaka Rangers at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Washburn is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Thomas Walker: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Washburn blew Thomas Walker out of the water with a 54-19 final score. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Pirates had established a 34 point advantage.
Washburn's win on Thursday was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Hannah Williams, who posted ten points and six boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Saylor Clay, who had 14 points.
While Unaka didn't have the best season last year (they finished 6-22), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They took their contest on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 63-30 win over Twin Springs. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Rangers.
Washburn better keep an eye on Michelle Shields. She was instrumental in Unaka's win, going 8 of 15 on her way to 25 points and six assists. The match was Shields' fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kalli Shepard, who went 5 of 9 on her way to 14 points and five rebounds.
Unaka is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.6 points per game. As for Washburn, their victory bumped their record up to 6-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Washburn has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 27.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Unaka struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Washburn strolled past Unaka when the teams last played back in February by a score of 53-36. The rematch might be a little tougher for Washburn since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
