The West Panthers will take on the Salem Hills Skyhawks at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
West will bounce into Tuesday's contest after beating Judge Memorial Catholic, who they had gone 0-3 against in their three prior meetings. West walked away with a 76-67 victory over Judge Memorial Catholic on Saturday.
Matthew Fox had a dynamite game for West, going 9 of 12 from beyond the arc on his way to 29 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Elijah Albertson, who went 5 for 7 on his way to 12 points in addition to six rebounds and five assists.
West was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Salem Hills won against Hunter last Friday with 78 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Monday. Salem Hills came out on top against Juan Diego Catholic by a score of 78-67. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Skyhawks.
West better keep an eye on Kade Moser. He was instrumental in Salem Hills' win, going 8 for 10 on his way to 22 points and seven rebounds. The matchup was Moser's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacoby Gustin, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 17 points and seven rebounds.
Salem Hills' win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-6. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points per game. As for West, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as West and Salem Hills are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. West hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 64.1 points per game. However, it's not like Salem Hills struggles in that department as they've been averaging 63.3 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
West might still be hurting after the 74-49 defeat they got from Salem Hills when the teams last played back in December of 2016. Thankfully for West, James Nelson (who dropped a double-double on 27 points and ten boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
