After both having extra time off, the Northeast Dubois Jeeps and the West Washington Senators will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Two weeks ago, Northeast Dubois lost to Jasper on the road by a 41-27 margin. The game marked the Jeeps' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Defeat or not, Northeast Dubois got some senior leadership from Ava Helming and Lyllee Schnell. Helming posted nine points and five rebounds, while Schnell had five points along with ten boards and three blocks. Schnell has become a key player for Northeast Dubois: the team is 6-1 when she posts at least eight rebounds, but 1-4 otherwise.
Meanwhile, West Washington suffered their biggest loss since November 23rd two weeks ago. They might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting Orleans an easy 64-40 win. The Senators haven't had much luck with the Bulldogs recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Northeast Dubois will need focus on slowing down Adelle Brown, one of several West Washington players who made an impact when they last played. She posted eight points in addition to five assists and five boards. The dominant performance also gave Brown a new career-high in steals (five). Another player making a difference was Meredith Deaton, who put up 16 points and eight rebounds.
Northeast Dubois' defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-5. As for West Washington, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 9-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Northeast Dubois has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like West Washington struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Northeast Dubois was able to grind out a solid victory over West Washington in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, winning 55-42. Does Northeast Dubois have another victory up their sleeve, or will West Washington turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
