Basketball Game Preview: West Elk Patriots vs. Rose Hill Rockets

Two dominant guards in Maddex Moreno and Zander Ford are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. After both having extra time off, the West Elk Patriots and the Rose Hill Rockets will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. West Elk has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.

West Elk is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They fell to Fredonia 76-70. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game two weeks ago (61), the Patriots still had to take the loss.

Loss or not, West Elk got some senior leadership from Moreno and Kase Kill. Moreno dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 boards, while Kill dropped a double-double on 17 points and 13 boards. With that strong performance, Moreno is now averaging an impressive 8.2 rebounds per game. Another player making a difference was Jaxson Bogdahn, who posted 11 points.

Even though they lost, West Elk smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Rose Hill can finally bid farewell to their five-game losing streak dating back to last season thanks to their game last Friday. They managed a 42-38 victory over Clearwater.

Rose Hill's win came from a few key players West Elk will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Trayton Allison-Hill, who earned nine points and seven rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Myer Mcnaul, who posted six points and three steals.

West Elk's defeat dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Rose Hill, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-4.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: West Elk has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 35.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Rose Hill struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.