Two dominant guards in Janiyah Green and Xyanna Walton are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Chicago Marshall Commandos will take on the Butler Lynx at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Chicago Marshall is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They blew past Clark 61-34. The victory continues a trend for the Commandos in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won three in a row.
Chicago Marshall's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alysha Murphy led the charge by going 6-for-10 en route to 20 points in addition to eight rebounds and six steals. That's the most points Murphy has posted since back in January of 2024. Charmarre Scott was another key player, dropping a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards.
Chicago Marshall smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in ten consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Butler over North Lawndale in every quarter on their way to victory on Wednesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Butler blew North Lawndale out of the water with a 63-29 final score. Given the Lynx's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 116th, while the Phoenix are ranked 250th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Butler's win came from a few key players Chicago Marshall will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Walton, who dropped a double-double with 18 points and 19 rebounds. She is becoming a predictor of Butler's success: when she posts at least ten boards the team is 16-5 (and 4-5 when she doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Cyra Conwell, who put up 19 points and four steals.
Butler is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a massive bump to their 20-10 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.8 points over those games. As for Chicago Marshall, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 23-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Chicago Marshall has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 35.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Butler struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
