Wallkill and Valley Central are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2014, but not for long. The Wallkill Panthers will venture away from home to take on the Valley Central Vikings at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Wallkill is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54.8 points per game this season.
Wallkill took a loss when they played away from home two weeks ago, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They came out on top against Marlboro Central by a score of 61-52. The score was all tied up 27-27 at the break, but the Panthers were the better team in the second half.
Zoe Mesuch
| 02/27/25 vs Marlboro Central | 27 |
| 02/20/25 @ Beacon | 32 |
| 02/18/25 vs Onteora | 24 |
| 02/13/25 vs New Paltz | 31 |
| 02/11/25 vs Red Hook | 38 |
| + 19 more games |
Wallkill's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Zoe Mesuch, who shot 48% from the field to rack up 27 points in addition to five assists and five boards, and Gabriella Gualtiere, who went 8-for-12 en route to 19 points and eight rebounds. Mesuch's afternoon made it 24 games in a row in which she has scored at least 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Aoife Brady, who posted four points.
They weren't the only ones working in the assist department: Wallkill was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. They are 9-4 when they've passed the ball that well.
Meanwhile, Valley Central came up short against Cornwall Central last Monday and fell 59-49. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 370th, while the Dragons are ranked 125th).
Wallkill's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-9. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.0 points over those games. As for Valley Central, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 9-9 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Wallkill against Valley Central in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, as the team secured a 62-29 victory. Will Wallkill repeat their success, or does Valley Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
