The Hammond Tornadoes will head out on the road to challenge the Mandeville Skippers at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hammond will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Louisiana Rankings (they are ranked 114th, while the Skippers are ranked 12th).
Last Friday, Hammond was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 47-41 to the Panthers. Hammond has struggled against the Panthers recently, as their contest on Friday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Meanwhile, Mandeville came tearing into Thursday's match with ten straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.4 points) and they left with even more momentum. They enjoyed a cozy 63-46 win over Salmen. Winning is a bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 22 to 2 on the offensive boards, as Mandeville did.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Alanna Benoit and Destiny Bennett. Benoit had a great game and scored 25 points along with seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Bennett did her best for the losing side, scoring 12 points.
Hammond has traveled a rocky road recently having lost eight of their last nine matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 13-13 record this season. As for Mandeville, they pushed their record up to 24-5 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home.
Hammond was dealt a bruising 67-30 loss at the hands of the Skippers in their previous meeting back in January. Can Hammond avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
