Basketball Game Preview: Mohawk Area Warriors vs. Ellwood City Wolverine

The Mohawk Area Warriors will head out to take on the Ellwood City Wolverine at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Mohawk Area's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last seven matchups.

Mohawk Area is headed into the game having just posted their closest win since February 28th on Saturday. They skirted past Sharon 67-64.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Ellwood City). They blew past Kennedy Catholic 74-41 on Saturday. The Wolverine have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 25 points or more this season.

Ellwood City's win came from a few key players Mohawk Area will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Chris Smiley, who went 7 of 10 on his way to 17 points in addition to five assists and five rebounds. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in blocks (two). Another player making a difference was Aaron Lake, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 13 boards.

Ellwood City smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in six consecutive matchups.

Mohawk Area's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-2. As for Ellwood City, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season.

Mohawk Area didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Ellwood City in their previous matchup back in March, but they still walked away with a 55-50 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Ellwood City's Joseph Roth, who dropped a double-double on 29 points and 17 boards. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Mohawk Area to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.