Preview: Wagener-Salley War Eagles vs. Blackville-Hilda Fighting Hawks
Wagener-Salley is 2-8 against Blackville-Hilda since December of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the Wagener-Salley War Eagles will get right back to it and host the Blackville-Hilda Fighting Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on January 26th. Wagener-Salley comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 24 points in their last six games, a trend the team is of course eager to reverse.
Wagener-Salley suffered their biggest loss since December 15, 2023 on Thursday. They were dealt a 40-9 defeat at the hands of North.
Blackville-Hilda posted their biggest win since December 13, 2023 on Tuesday. They blew past Ridge Spring-Monetta 53-30. The win was just what Blackville-Hilda needed coming off of a 102-15 defeat in their prior matchup.
Blackville-Hilda relied on the efforts of Breyanna Williams, who scored 13 points along with six assists and five rebounds, and Eva Sapp, who scored 19 points along with nine steals and five rebounds. Williams is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Aubreya Johnson, who scored seven points along with eight rebounds and four steals.
Wagener-Salley dropped their record down to 2-14 with that loss, which was their ninth straight on the road. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 14.6 points per game. As for Blackville-Hilda, their win bumped their record up to 8-9.
Things could have been worse for Wagener-Salley, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 34-17 loss to Blackville-Hilda in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Sapp, who scored 19 points along with six steals. Now that Wagener-Salley knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
