Preview: Northwest Grizzlies vs. Blue Valley Northwest Huskies
Northwest has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Blue Valley Northwest Huskies at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Northwest has not done well against Maize recently (they were 0-3 in their previous three matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. Northwest snuck past Maize with a 58-52 victory.
Elijah Benning continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 24 points along with three steals. He hasn't dropped below two steals for six straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Tasean Williams, who scored eight points along with five steals.
Meanwhile, Blue Valley Northwest faced Olathe South in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Blue Valley Northwest came out on top against Olathe South by a score of 71-58 on Saturday. Winning may never get old, but Blue Valley Northwest sure is getting used to it with their eighth in a row.
Blue Valley Northwest's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jake Fritz, who scored 22 points, and Joey Matteoni, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds. Fritz hasn't dropped below 15 points for seven straight games. Another player making a difference was Jaxon Klein, who scored seven points along with seven rebounds.
Northwest pushed their record up to 17-5 with that victory, which was their 12th straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.9 points per game. As for Blue Valley Northwest, their victory bumped their record up to 20-2.
Thursday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Northwest have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 44.5% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Blue Valley Northwest struggles in that department as they've made 49.2% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
