Two dominant guards in Tristan Coles and Jaiden Copley are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Maple Heights Mustangs will wrap up 2025 with a road trip to face off against the East Tech Scarabs at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Maple Heights has given up an average of 74.8 points per game this season, but Saturday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Maple Heights is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Bedford on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. The Mustangs might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting the Bearcats an easy 68-48 win. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 505th, while the Bearcats are ranked 35th).
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for East Tech against Beachwood on Saturday as the team secured a 67-32 victory. The Scarabs pushed the score to 60-21 by the end of the third, a deficit the Bison cut but never quite recovered from.
Maple Heights better keep an eye on Aziah Bolden. He was instrumental in East Tech's win, going 8-for-18 en route to 19 points and four steals. Greg Pettaway was another key player, putting up 13 points.
The win made it two in a row for East Tech and bumps their season record up to 2-3. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.5 points over those games. As for Maple Heights, their defeat was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 1-7.
Maple Heights strolled past East Tech in their previous meeting back in February by a score of 86-72. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Mustangs since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
