Basketball Game Preview: Keystone Panthers vs. Moniteau Warriors

The Keystone Panthers will take on the Moniteau Warriors in a holiday battle at at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Last Friday, Keystone lost to Karns City on the road by a 53-35 margin. The Panthers haven't had much luck with the Gremlins recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ava Patrick, who posted nine points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashlee Albright, who scored eight points and five steals.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Moniteau). They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Clarion-Limestone 51-48. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Warriors have posted since February 13th.

Moniteau's win came from a few key players Keystone will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Sayge Brunst, who put up 17 points and three steals. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in points. Sophia Fleeger was another key player, putting up six points along with seven rebounds and five steals.

The victory made it two in a row for Moniteau and bumps their season record up to 2-5. As for Keystone, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 4-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Keystone has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 24.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Moniteau struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Keystone might still be hurting after the 43-23 loss they got from Moniteau in their previous meeting back in January. Can Keystone avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.