The Wayne Badgers will take on the Milford Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Wayne will bounce into Thursday's game after beating Piute, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Wayne came out on top against Piute by a score of 53-44 on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Badgers.
Blake Peterson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 7 for 14 en route to 22 points in addition to six assists and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Hunter Robins, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Milford came tearing into Thursday's contest with 12 straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.1 points) and they left with even more momentum. They claimed a resounding 87-24 win over the Patriots. The Tigers' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Wayne better keep an eye on Sadler Barnes. He was instrumental in Milford's win, dropping a double-double on 20 points and ten assists. The match was Barnes' seventh in a row with at least ten points. Kielen Tsosie was another key player, dropping a double-double on ten points and ten boards.
They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Milford was working as a unit and finished the game with 23 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Milford's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-1. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.8 points per game. As for Wayne, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-9 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Wayne has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 31.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Milford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Wayne was able to grind out a solid win over Milford in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, winning 75-63. Will Wayne repeat their success, or does Milford have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
