Wayne County hasn't had much luck against Laurel recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Wayne County War Eagles will be playing in front of their home fans against the Laurel Golden Tornadoes at 6:00 p.m.
Last Saturday, Wayne County was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 54-53 to Bay Springs.
Meanwhile, Laurel waltzed into their matchup on Monday with 17 straight wins... but they left with 18. They strolled past the Oilers with points to spare, taking the game 59-45. Given the Golden Tornadoes' advantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Oilers are ranked 79th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Laurel's win came from a few key players Wayne County will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kayllis Walker, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 12 rebounds. Her evening made it three games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Gracelyn Carmichael, who went 6 of 9 en route to 16 points and five boards.
Laurel smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 28 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Laurel pushed their record up to 23-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.3 points per game. As for Wayne County, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-6.
Wayne County came up short against Laurel when the teams last played two weeks ago, falling 48-36. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Walker, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds. Now that Wayne County knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
