Preview: Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Bears vs. Plainview Pirates
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge is 8-2 against Plainview since December of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Bears will be home for the holidays to greet the Plainview Pirates at 6:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They walked away with a 57-45 victory over Ponca.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge found their leader in underclassman Rena Rasmussen, who scored 22 points along with nine rebounds and four steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Rasmussen has scored at least 25% of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge's points. Carlie Kvols was another key contributor, scoring eight points.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 11 more assists than your opponent, a fact Plainview proved on Tuesday. They took their game at home with ease, bagging a 52-14 victory over Madison. Given Plainview's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 75th, while Madison is ranked 232nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Abbie Kromarek continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 18 points along with six assists and five rebounds. The matchup was her sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Madelynn Dougherty, who scored eight points along with six rebounds and five assists.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge's win bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Plainview, their win was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-1.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Laurel-Concord-Coleridge have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 33.4 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Plainview, though, as they've been averaging only 30.3 rebounds per game. Given Laurel-Concord-Coleridge's sizeable advantage in that area, Plainview will need to find a way to close that gap.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Plainview when the teams last played back in January, but they still walked away with a 44-40 win. Does Laurel-Concord-Coleridge have another victory up their sleeve, or will Plainview turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
