Western fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Maconaquah on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell to the Maconaquah Braves 72-68. One positive for the Panthers, at least, is that this was the most points they've scored all season.
Western lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Carter Biggs, who went 8 for 13 on his way to 21 points and six rebounds. Biggs' evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Brycen Rucker also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.
Panthers
| 02/20/24 @ Carroll | 23 |
| 02/03/24 @ Maconaquah | 22 |
| 01/24/25 vs Maconaquah | 20 |
| 12/02/23 @ Frankfort | 18 |
| 12/09/23 vs Rossville | 17 |
Even though they lost, Western was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in February of 2024.
Maconaquah got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Josiah Ball out in front who posted 26 points in addition to five boards and four steals. Ball is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 16 or more in the last 33 games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Fuddy Kile, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Western and nudges their season record down to 9-6. As for Maconaquah, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2-1 record this season.
Western has already played their next game, a 49-44 victory against Mississinewa on the 25th. As for Maconaquah, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 67-60 win against Hamilton Heights on the 25th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
