Preview: Northwood Rangers vs. Vanlue Wildcats
Northwood has played every game this season on their home court, but they'll have to hit the road on Saturday. They will take on the Vanlue Wildcats at 1:00 p.m. Hopefully Northwood is not getting complacent, as they presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Vanlue in Ohio (Northwood is ranked 281st, while Vanlue is ranked 718th).
Northwood has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matches by 20 points or more this season. They were the clear victor by a 46-26 margin over Lima Central Catholic.
Northwood can attribute much of their success to Natalie Thompson, who scored 11 points along with nine steals and six rebounds, and Autumn Schroeder, who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds and four steals. The matchup was Thompson's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bree Bolden, who scored six points along with ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, things could have been worse for Vanlue, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 50-32 loss to McComb on Thursday. Vanlue has struggled against McComb recently, as their game on Thursday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Mara Simon, who scored nine points along with 12 rebounds and five blocks. Lexi Brooks was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with five steals.
Northwood's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-0. They've been dominating during the contests in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 27 points. As for Vanlue, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-5.
Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday's game: Northwood have been dynamite from deep this season, having only made 30.7% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Vanlue, though, as they've only made 30% of their threes per game this season. Given Northwood's sizeable advantage in that area, Vanlue will need to find a way to close that gap.
Northwood beat Vanlue 42-34 when the teams last played back in December of 2022. Will Northwood repeat their success, or does Vanlue have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
