Preview: Waterville/Mansfield vs. Almira-Coulee-Hartline Warriors
Waterville/Mansfield is on a seven-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Almira-Coulee-Hartline is on a seven-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. Waterville/Mansfield will finish 2023 at home by hosting the Almira-Coulee-Hartline Warriors at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Two weeks ago, everything went Waterville/Mansfield's way against Pateros as Waterville/Mansfield made off with a 52-28 win.
Almira-Coulee-Hartline has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 22 points or more this season. They claimed a resounding 46-19 win over Manson on the road. Given Almira-Coulee-Hartline's advantage in MaxPreps' Washington basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while Manson is ranked 201st), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Almira-Coulee-Hartline to victory, but perhaps none more so than Naomi Molitor, who scored eight points. Another player making a difference was Emma Brummett, who scored eight points.
The victory got Waterville/Mansfield back to even at 1-1. As for Almira-Coulee-Hartline, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a massive bump to their 5-3 record this season.
Waterville/Mansfield beat Almira-Coulee-Hartline 41-30 when the teams last played back in December of 2022. Will Waterville/Mansfield repeat their success, or does Almira-Coulee-Hartline have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
