Basketball Game Preview: Woodlan Warriors vs. Whitko Wildcats

The Woodlan Warriors will square off against the Whitko Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Woodlan comes in on four and Whitko on three.

Last Thursday, everything went Woodlan's way against Prairie Heights as Woodlan made off with a 55-34 win. Given the Warriors' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 109th, while the Panthers are ranked 308th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Alyssa Anderson was her usual excellent self, going 6 of 14 on her way to 14 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Makenna Smith, who posted seven points and three steals.

Meanwhile, Whitko hadn't done well against Wawasee recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. Whitko came out on top against Wawasee by a score of 63-53.

Whitko's win came from a few key players Woodlan will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jayma Stonebraker, who went 5 for 8 en route to 18 points in addition to eight assists and five boards. Those eight assists gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Reese Stonebraker, who went 8 of 17 on her way to 18 points along with five assists and five rebounds.

Whitko was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.

Woodlan has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.2 points per game. As for Whitko, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-4.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Woodlan has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30 boards per game. However, it's not like Whitko struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.8 rebounds. 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.