The Harvest Prep Warriors will take on the Urbana Hillclimbers at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Harvest Prep is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52.4 points per game this season.
Harvest Prep is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Big Walnut just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Monday. The match between them and the Golden Eagles didn't end well, with Harvest Prep falling 57-43. While losing is never fun, the Warriors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 187th, while the Golden Eagles are ranked 49th).
Harvest Prep's loss came about despite a quality game from Adjoa Acheampong, who posted nine points. Another player making a difference was Israelle Smith, who scored 12 points.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Urbana on Wednesday. They put the hurt on London with a sharp 57-34 victory. The Hillclimbers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 22 points or more this season.
Harvest Prep better keep an eye on Peyton Mounce. She was instrumental in Urbana's win, dropping a double-double on 35 points and 12 rebounds. That makes it 16 consecutive games in which Mounce has scored at least a third of Urbana's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivia MacKendrick, who had seven points in addition to seven boards and three steals.
Urbana pushed their record up to 17-4 with the win, which was their 11th straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.8 points per game. As for Harvest Prep, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Harvest Prep has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 28.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Urbana struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Harvest Prep came out on top in a nail-biter against Urbana in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, sneaking past 50-48. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Mounce, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten boards. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Harvest Prep still be able to contain Mounce? There's only one way to find out.
