Preview: St. Mary's Cardinals vs. McCool Junction Mustangs
St. Mary has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the McCool Junction Mustangs at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 12 more assists than your opponent, a fact St. Mary's proved on Friday. They strolled past Sumner-Eddyville-Miller with points to spare, taking the game 59-42.
St. Mary's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alissa Brabec led the charge by going 7 for 13 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points and 0 assists. Another player making a difference was Lorissa Reiman, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, McCool Junction had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They came out on top against Alma by a score of 69-62 on Friday. McCool Junction is really starting to get used to good results now that the team's won 12 straight.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead McCool Junction to victory, but perhaps none more so than Mckenna Yates, who scored 29 points along with five rebounds and three steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Yates has scored at least a third of McCool Junction's points. Briann Stutzman was another key contributor, going 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points and 2 assists.
St. Mary's is on a roll lately: they've won 16 of their last 17 games, which provided a nice bump to their 22-2 record this season. As for McCool Junction, their victory was their 21st straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 20-3.
Thursday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: St. Mary's have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 44.2% of their threes per game. However, it's not like McCool Junction struggles in that department as they've made 40.1% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Mary's came out on top in a nail-biter against McCool Junction when the teams last played back in January, sneaking past 41-39. Does St. Mary's have another victory up their sleeve, or will McCool Junction turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
