The Thomas Stone Cougars and the Smithsburg Leopards will round out the year against one another at at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Thomas Stone is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Academy for College and Career Exploration to the tune of 61-28 on Tuesday. With the Cougars ahead 38-15 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Thomas Stone found their leader in freshman Zoe Carter, who almost dropped a triple-double on 25 points, 13 boards, and nine assists. That makes it four consecutive games in which Carter has scored at least a third of Thomas Stone's points. Malaiyah Johnson was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on nine points and 12 rebounds.
Thomas Stone smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 16 offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Smithsburg hadn't done well against Walkersville recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Smithsburg walked away with a 62-51 win over Walkersville.
Smithsburg's win came from a few key players Thomas Stone will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Skyla Mastronardi, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. Mastronardi is also crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Claire Bono, who posted 15 points in addition to seven boards and five steals.
Smithsburg pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.6 points per game. As for Thomas Stone, the win got them back to even at 2-2.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Thomas Stone has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 47 boards per game. However, it's not like Smithsburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
