The Meyersdale Red Raiders struggled with threes on Wednesday (the Blacklick Valley Vikings had six more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Meyersdale was outmatched by the Vikings at home and fell 55-28. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Meyersdale in their matchups with the Vikings: they've now lost seven in a row.
Despite the loss, Meyersdale still got an impressive performance from Laurel Daniels, who scored seven points along with five steals and two blocks. Daniels is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Sarah Hainsworth, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.
Kristin Szymusiak was her usual excellent self, scoring 20 points along with five steals for Blacklick Valley. Szymusiak is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Kaydence Killinger was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with seven steals and five rebounds.
Meyersdale dropped their record down to 5-13 with that defeat, which was their third straight at home. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 25.0 points per game. As for Blacklick Valley, the win was the eighth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 17-1.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Meyersdale will square off against the Cougars at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. North Star has now lost nine straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 18. Blacklick Valley is on the road again on Saturday and plays the Rams at 1:00 p.m. on February 3rd. Turkeyfoot Valley Area will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Pennsylvania Rankings (they are ranked 607th, while the Vikings are ranked 199th).
