Juniata Valley has won three straight games at home, while Tussey Mountain has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Wednesday. The Juniata Valley Hornets will host the Tussey Mountain Titans at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Juniata Valley is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Curwensville: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Juniata Valley blew Curwensville out of the water with a 68-21 final score. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 47-12.
| 01/20/25 vs Curwensville | 4 |
| 12/11/23 @ Glendale | 6 |
| 12/26/23 vs Southern Huntingdon County | 6 |
| 01/22/24 @ Curwensville | 6 |
| 12/15/23 vs Curwensville | 5 |
Juniata Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Anna Taylor led the charge by going 8 of 10 on her way to 21 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. That's the most steals Taylor has posted since back in February of 2024. Aubrey Anderson was another key player, almost dropping a triple-double on 12 points, ten assists, and nine steals.
Juniata Valley was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Tussey Mountain on Monday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Mount Union out of the water with a 54-22 final score. Given the Titans' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 265th, while the Trojans are ranked 559th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Juniata Valley better focus on containing Adyson Weyandt and Karah Husick as the pair were huge in Tussey Mountain's win. Weyandt dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten steals, while Husick went 7 for 10 en route to 16 points and four steals. Husick is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last eight games she's played. Another player making a difference was Brianna Gabrielson, who went 5 of 8 on her way to 11 points.
Juniata Valley has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 8-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.5 points per game. As for Tussey Mountain, their victory bumped their record up to 12-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Juniata Valley has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 29.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Tussey Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Juniata Valley was able to grind out a solid win over Tussey Mountain when the teams last played back in March of 2021, winning 56-49. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Tussey Mountain's Meghan Molosky, who posted 22 points in addition to five rebounds and four steals. Now that she won't be playing on Wednesday, will it be easier for Juniata Valley to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
