Basketball Preview: White House Blue Devils vs. Merrol Hyde Magnet Hawks
The White House Blue Devils will face off against the Merrol Hyde Magnet Hawks at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Having struggled with six defeats in a row dating back to last season, White House finally turned things around against Westmoreland on Tuesday. They enjoyed a cozy 71-53 victory over the Eagles. The Blue Devils' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead White House to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kenny Holt, who went 5 for 11 en route to 17 points plus five assists. The dominant performance also gave Holt a new career-high in threes (four). Another player making a difference was Louis Taylor, who made all 6 shots he took racking up 13 points plus seven rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Merrol Hyde Magnet came tearing into Thursday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They pulled ahead with a 62-61 photo finish over the Wildcats. While the Hawks didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-18), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Merrol Hyde Magnet's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sam Mullins, who went 8 for 18 en route to 23 points plus four steals. With that strong performance, Mullins is now averaging an impressive 15.5 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Harrison Gill, who went 5 for 8 en route to 15 points plus two steals and two blocks.
Merrol Hyde Magnet pushed their record up to 5-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 8.5 points across that stretch. As for White House, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-4.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as White House and Merrol Hyde Magnet are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. White House hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 56.4 points per game. However, it's not like Merrol Hyde Magnet struggles in that department as they've been averaging 60. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Everything came up roses for White House against Merrol Hyde Magnet when the teams last played back in January, as the squad secured a 92-43 win. In that game, White House amassed a halftime lead of 46-20, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
