The Marquette Catholic Blazers and the Morgan Township Cherokees will face off at 7:00 p.m. on February 10th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Marquette Catholic comes in on three and Morgan Township on four.
Marquette Catholic had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They came out on top against Triton by a score of 52-39 on Saturday. Given Marquette Catholic's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 101st, while Triton is ranked 243rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Marquette Catholic found their leader in underclassman Laniah Davis, who almost dropped a double-double on 30 points and nine rebounds. Davis is on a roll when it comes to points, as she's now scored 18 or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Natalie Robinson, who scored five points along with eight steals and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Morgan Township beat Kouts 28-24 on Saturday.
Morgan Township can attribute much of their success to Peyton Honchar, who scored eight points along with 11 rebounds, and Madi Lemmons, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 12 rebounds. Lemmons has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last seven times she's played.
Marquette Catholic's win bumped their record up to 21-4. As for Morgan Township, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-7.
Saturday's match is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Marquette Catholic have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Morgan Township struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Marquette Catholic came up short against Morgan Township when the teams last played back in November of 2022, falling 33-25. Can Marquette Catholic avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
