Winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 10 to 1 on the offensive boards, a fact the Catalyst-Maria Wolves proved on Friday. They had just enough and edged DuSable out 29-27. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Catalyst-Maria.
Catalyst-Maria's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Janiyah Shelby led the charge by scoring eight points along with five assists and five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Perla Garcia, who scored 12 points.
When it comes to explaining why DuSable lost, one person who can't be blamed is Damaya Plant. Despite the final result, she scored 19 points. That was a full 70.4% of DuSable's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lanae Harris, who scored eight points.
Catalyst-Maria has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. As for DuSable, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 9-6.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Catalyst-Maria will square off against the at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Josephinum is on a three-game streak of home wins, the Wolves a 13-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season)-- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court. As for DuSable, they will head out on the road to square off against the Eagles at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Hancock is coming into the game hot, having won their last eight games.
