The Laurel Spartans's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Northwestern Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on January 18th. Northwestern took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Laurel, who comes in off a win.
Even though Laurel has not done well against Eleanor Roosevelt recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. Laurel walked away with a 70-58 victory over Eleanor Roosevelt. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Laurel's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Jermaine Taylor, who scored 26 points. Taylor is absolutely dominating the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Gilbert Osafo, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 16 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Northwestern's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fourth straight loss. They had to suffer through a rough 77-42 loss at the hands of Wise. While losing is never fun, Northwestern can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Maryland basketball rankings (they are ranked 212th, while Wise is ranked 44th).
The victory got Laurel back to even at 4-4. As for Northwestern, they bumped their record down to 3-5 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road.
Everything came up roses for Laurel against Northwestern in their previous matchup back in January of 2023 as the team secured a 55-26 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Laurel since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
