The Walnut Ridge Scots will venture away from home to face off against the Marion Harding Presidents at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Walnut Ridge is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 66.5 points per game this season.
Walnut Ridge is headed into the game having just posted their closest win since November 30, 2024 on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 45-42 victory over Bexley. Given the Scots' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 146th, while the Lions are ranked 429th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Marquis Lucas
| 02/18/25 vs Bexley | 17 |
| 02/07/25 vs West | 17 |
| 02/04/25 @ Marion-Franklin | 20 |
Walnut Ridge's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Marquis Lucas, who went 5-for-11 on his way to 17 points in addition to six boards and three steals. The contest was Lucas' third in a row with at least 17 points. De'Yaire Adams was another key player, putting up ten points and five rebounds.
Walnut Ridge smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Marion Harding had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They came within six points of losing the streak, but they secured a 47-41 W against the Bulldogs. The score was all tied up 19-19 at the break, but the Presidents were the better team in the second half.
Marion Harding pushed their record up to 19-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.3 points over those games. As for Walnut Ridge, they have been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 14 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-6 record this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
