Preview: Monticello Panthers vs. Eldred Yellowjackets
Monticello has been on the road for two straight, but on Wednesday they'll finally head home. They will be home for the holidays to greet the Eldred Yellowjackets at 6:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Friday, things could have been worse for Monticello, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 50-33 loss to Goshen Central.
Despite their loss, Monticello saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Amiah Neails, who scored 14 points, was perhaps the best of all. Neails scored a full 42.4% of Monticello's points, the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Isabella Velasquez, who scored ten points along with five steals.
Meanwhile, Eldred lost to Tri-Valley at home by a decisive 40-21 margin on Thursday. While losing is never fun, Eldred can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 320th, while Tri-Valley is ranked 41st).
Monticello bumped their record down to 1-4 with that loss, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 25.8 points per game. As for Eldred, they now have a losing record at 1-2.
Everything came up roses for Monticello against Eldred in their previous meeting back in January as the team secured a 37-8 win. Does Monticello have another victory up their sleeve, or will Eldred turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
