The Westwood Baptist Academy Eagles entered their tilt with the Mississippi Valley Christian Warriors with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Westwood Baptist Academy sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 46-43 win over Mississippi Valley Christian on Friday. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Westwood Baptist Academy also won the last time the pair played back in February.
Westwood Baptist Academy can attribute much of their success to Katie Gross, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 15 rebounds. Gross is absolutely dominating the rebound category: she's posted at least eight every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Sydney Hawley, who scored 17 points along with three steals.
When it comes to explaining why Mississippi Valley Christian lost, one person who can't be blamed is Anna Gaworski. Despite the final result, she scored 27 points along with six rebounds and four steals. Gaworski scored a full 62.8% of Mississippi Valley Christian's points, the sixth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Jessie Huels, who scored nine points.
Mississippi Valley Christian struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Westwood Baptist Academy pulled down 19 offensive rebounds.
Westwood Baptist Academy's victory bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Mississippi Valley Christian, their defeat ended a ten-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 10-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Westwood Baptist Academy will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on East Prairie at 6:00 p.m. on January 11, 2024. As for Mississippi Valley Christian, they will head out on the road to face off against Illinois School for the Deaf at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Illinois School for the Deaf will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings (they are ranked 692nd, while Mississippi Valley Christian is ranked 132nd).
