The Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders will be playing at home against the Washingtonville Wizards at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Monday, Monroe-Woodbury beat Warwick 50-43. Given Monroe-Woodbury's advantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 23rd, while Warwick is ranked 245th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Monroe-Woodbury got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Jankarlos Mendoza out in front who scored 20 points along with eight rebounds. Kyle McDermott was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with ten rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Washingtonville over Minisink Valley in every quarter on their way to victory on Monday. Washingtonville strolled past Minisink Valley with points to spare, taking the game 71-53.
Washingtonville's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jayden Vega, who scored 16 points along with three steals. Another player making a difference was Jaylen Brownlee, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 12 rebounds.
Monroe-Woodbury pushed their record up to 11-1 with that win, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.8 points per game. As for Washingtonville, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Monroe-Woodbury and Washingtonville are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Monroe-Woodbury hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 63.3 points per game. However, it's not like Washingtonville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 58.3 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Monroe-Woodbury came up short against Washingtonville in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, falling 43-34. Thankfully for Monroe-Woodbury, Nazier Sanders (who scored 15 points along with eight rebounds and four steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
