East Butler hasn't had much luck against Meridian recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The East Butler Tigers will head out to take on the Meridian Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. East Butler will be strutting in after a victory while Meridian will be coming in after a defeat.
East Butler is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 58-30 win over Mead. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Tigers have posted since December 15, 2023.
It was another big night for Lillie Kriz, who shot 5-for-7 from deep and almost dropped a double-double on 26 points and nine rebounds. That makes it six consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of East Butler's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Margret Pekarek, who posted 12 points along with five boards and three steals.
East Butler smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Meridian ended up a good deal behind Twin River on Tuesday and lost 56-38.
East Butler will have to contain Jaylee Sobotka as she made an impact in Meridian's last game. She dropped a double-double on 13 points and 16 rebounds. That was a full 34.2% of Meridian's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Taelyn Filipi, who put up eight points.
East Butler's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-8. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.3 points per game. As for Meridian, their loss dropped their record down to 5-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: East Butler has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 41.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Meridian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
East Butler was taken down by Meridian 61-25 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point East Butler was down 45-12.
