Basketball Preview: Carroll Cougars vs. Tri-County Cavaliers
Carroll has gone 8-1 against Tri-County recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Carroll Cougars will take on the Tri-County Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a seven-game winning streak alive.
Last Saturday, Carroll didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Marion, but they still walked away with a 54-48 victory. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 86th, while the Giants are ranked 210th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Jillian Salts, who dropped a double-double on 27 points and 13 rebounds. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in threes (two). Another player making a difference was Eliza Rinehart, who had nine points in addition to six rebounds and two steals.
Carroll smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, everything went Tri-County's way against Winamac on Saturday as Tri-County made off with a 51-26 win. The Cavaliers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matches by 20 points or more this season.
Tri-County's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Hannah Arvin led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on ten points and nine rebounds. Arvin is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed three or more in the last three games she's played. Grace Luck was another key player, scoring eight points along with five steals.
Tri-County pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.9 points per game. As for Carroll, their win bumped their record up to 8-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Carroll has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Tri-County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Carroll against Tri-County in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, as the squad secured a 64-37 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Carroll since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
