After flying high against the Ashland Blue Devils on Monday, the Walnut Wildcats came back down to earth. The matchup between Walnut and Middleton wasn't particularly close, with Walnut falling 60-42. Walnut lost against Middleton in their previous head to head back in February of 2015, too, but the margin this time around was much closer than the 87-33 score last time.
Leading Middleton to victory were Morgan Talley and Harmony Bell. Talley scored 17 points along with eight rebounds, while Bell scored 18 points along with five assists and five steals. That makes it ten consecutive games in which Bell has scored at least 25% of Middleton's points. Another player making a difference was Kemora Buggs, who scored 12 points along with four steals.
Walnut's defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-5. As for Middleton, their win bumped their record up to 7-3.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Walnut will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Belmont at 6:00 p.m. on January 9, 2024. Middleton will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on West Carroll at 6:00 p.m. on January 5, 2024.
