Two dominant guards in Lillie Graves and Sara Zarse are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The McCutcheon Mavericks will finish 2023 at home by hosting the Tri-County Cavaliers at 11:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with McCutcheon sitting on seven straight victories and Tri-County on five.
McCutcheon has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 23 points or more this season. They really took it to Harrison for the full four quarters, racking up a 56-29 win at home.
McCutcheon's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Aubrey Miller, who scored 14 points along with seven rebounds, and Graves, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds and five steals. The match was Graves' 12th in a row with at least ten points. Chloe Finney was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with six steals.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on WednesdayTri-County capped 2023 with a 45-43 victory over Mt. Vernon.
Zarse was her usual excellent self, scoring 20 points. Another player making a difference was Hannah Arvin, who scored nine points.
McCutcheon's win bumped their record up to 10-2. As for Tri-County, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's contest: McCutcheon have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 4.3 threes per game. However, it's not like Tri-County struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.4 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.