Basketball Game Preview: Taft Eagles vs. Whitney Young Dolphins

Taft hasn't had much luck against Whitney Young recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Taft Eagles will venture away from home to face off against the Whitney Young Dolphins at 5:00 p.m. That match will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Gabriela Gonzalez and Destiny Jackson.

Taft is headed into Wednesday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their sixth straight game last Thursday. They had to suffer through a 63-36 loss at the hands of Butler. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 346th, while the Lynx are ranked 140th).

Meanwhile, Whitney Young waltzed into their contest on Saturday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They secured a 62-58 W over the Panthers.

Taft better focus on containing Gaby Domercant and Jackson as the pair were huge in Whitney Young's win. Domercant went 7 for 10 from beyond the arc on her way to 25 points, while Jackson went 7 of 14 on her way to 19 points and six assists. The match was Jackson's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordyn Ellis, who posted eight points and nine rebounds.

Whitney Young smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in three consecutive games.

Whitney Young has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.0 points per game. As for Taft, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-11.

Taft came up short against Whitney Young in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 47-38. Can Taft avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.