Basketball Game Preview: Northwest Rankin Cougars vs. Brandon Bulldogs

Northwest Rankin and Brandon are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2021, but not for long. The Northwest Rankin Cougars will square off against the Brandon Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Northwest Rankin knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Brandon likes a good challenge.

Northwest Rankin is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Mississippi's top teams: Pontotoc, who was ranked 13th at the time (Northwest Rankin was ranked tenth). Northwest Rankin blew past Pontotoc 72-49 on Friday. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Northwest Rankin found their leader in sophomore Malia Mccelleis, who went 8 of 12 on her way to 21 points along with six steals and five assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Lauren Howard, who posted 12 points.

Northwest Rankin was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 6.6.

Meanwhile, Brandon suffered their closest defeat since February 6th on Saturday. They fell just short of Canton by a score of 40-38. The Bulldogs have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Northwest Rankin is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.8 points per game. As for Brandon, their loss dropped their record down to 6-4.

Northwest Rankin took their win against Brandon in their previous matchup back in February by a conclusive 56-31. The rematch might be a little tougher for Northwest Rankin since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.