The New Lexington Panthers will head out on the road to take on the West Muskingum Tornadoes at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in New Lexington's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five matchups.
New Lexington put the finishing touches on their tenth blowout victory of the season on Wednesday. They blew past Morgan 62-20 at home. Given New Lexington's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 244th, while Morgan is ranked 530th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
New Lexington can attribute much of their success to Makenzy McCoy, who scored 24 points along with five steals, and Chloe Dick, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds. Dick hasn't dropped below 17 points for five straight games. Another player making a difference was Abby Wilson, who scored four points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, after a string of seven wins, West Muskingum's good fortune finally ran out on Wednesday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 49-48 to Meadowbrook.
New Lexington pushed their record up to 13-8 with that win, which was their third straight at home. They've been dominating during the games in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 39 points. As for West Muskingum, their loss ended a 17-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 18-3.
New Lexington came up short against West Muskingum in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 41-28. Can New Lexington avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
