Kokomo has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the McCutcheon Mavericks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Kokomo focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Tuesday.
Last Tuesday, Kokomo came up short against Western and fell 48-39. While losing is never fun, Kokomo can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 127th, while Western is ranked 26th).
Kokomo's defeat came about despite a quality game from Aijia Elliott, who scored 11 points along with 9 rebounds and 6 blocks. Elliott scored a full 28.2% of Kokomo's points, the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Regan McClain, who scored 4 points along with 5 rebounds.
Meanwhile, McCutcheon came tearing into Tuesday's match with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 36.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They secured a 48-42 W over Lafayette Central Catholic.
McCutcheon's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Chloe Finney, who scored 13 points along with 6 rebounds and 3 steals. The match was Finney's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lillie Graves, who scored 19 points along with 3 steals.
Their wins bumped Kokomo to 5-3 and Western to 9-0.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Kokomo have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like McCutcheon struggles in that department as they've been even better at 32.4 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
Kokomo beat McCutcheon 31-22 when the teams last played back in January. Will Kokomo repeat their success, or does McCutcheon have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
