Preview: Waldron Mohawks vs. New Palestine Dragons
Two dominant players in Grace Fischer and Allie Blum are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Waldron Mohawks will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the New Palestine Dragons at 7:30 p.m. on January 18th. Hopefully Waldron focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 26 on Saturday.
Waldron suffered their biggest defeat since December 1, 2023 on Saturday. They took a serious blow against Eastern Hancock, falling 71-30. While losing is never fun, Waldron can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 277th, while Eastern Hancock is ranked 36th).
Waldron's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jackie Corlett, who scored nine points, and Emerson Lindsey who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, New Palestine didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Pendleton Heights on Friday, but they still walked away with a 52-48 victory. The victory made it back-to-back wins for New Palestine.
Among those leading the charge was Vivian Miller, who scored 25 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Blum, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Waldron's defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 6-12. As for New Palestine, they now have a winning record of 10-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Waldron have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 25.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like New Palestine struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 25.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Waldron was dealt a bruising 70-39 loss at the hands of New Palestine in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. Thankfully for Waldron, Isabella Gizzi (who scored 26 points along with six rebounds and three steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
