The McKinley Red Dragons struggled with assists on Tuesday (the Newton Falls Tigers had 18 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. McKinley's rough 61-41 defeat to Newton Falls might stick with them for a while. McKinley has not had much luck with Newton Falls recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
When it comes to explaining why McKinley lost, one person who can't be blamed is Yaunsene Blackmon. Despite the final result, he scored 19 points along with six rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Blackmon has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Anthony Budak, who scored five points along with five rebounds.
McKinley struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Newton Falls got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Zach Stinson out in front who scored ten points along with five assists and five rebounds. Stinson is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Jabriel Rufai was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with five assists and three steals.
McKinley has traveled a rocky road recently having lost five of their last six matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-15 record this season. As for Newton Falls, they pushed their record up to 15-5 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. McKinley will take on Howland at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Howlandpresents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than McKinley in Ohio (Howland is ranked 248th, while McKinley is ranked 712th). As for Newton Falls, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Windham at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Newton Falls focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 14 on Tuesday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
