The Garrison Troopers will head out on the road to challenge the Westhope/Newburg Sioux at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Garrison's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five matchups.
Last Tuesday, Garrison strolled past Central McLean [Turtle Lake-Mercer/Underwood/McClusky] with points to spare, taking the game 61-45.
Meanwhile, Westhope/Newburg stacked a 12th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Monday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Glenburn 76-41 on the road. Given Westhope/Newburg's advantage in MaxPreps' North Dakota basketball rankings (they are ranked sixth, while Glenburn is ranked 119th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Walker Braaten was his usual excellent self, scoring 21 points along with eight rebounds and four steals. Braaten is crushing the point category: he's posted at least 19 every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Will Artz, who scored 12 points along with five assists and three steals.
Westhope/Newburg used a slightly different lineup for their bout with Glenburn. And. Rocklin Beaudrie made the most of the opportunity, scoring three points along with seven rebounds. A few more games like that and he might be seeing even more time going forward.
Garrison has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season. As for Westhope/Newburg, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 17-1.
