McCool Junction is 0-10 against Cross County since December of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The McCool Junction Mustangs will face off against the Cross County Cougars at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
You can't lose the match if you win every quarter, and that was precisely McCool Junction's strategy against East Butler on Monday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that McCool Junction blew East Butler out of the water with a 65-24 final score. McCool Junction pushed the score to 53-19 by the end of the third, a deficit East Butler had no chance of recovering from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead McCool Junction to victory, but perhaps none more so than Mapieu Kouchinin, who scored 17 points along with eight rebounds. Another player making a difference was Trenton Orlando, who scored 12 points along with five steals.
Meanwhile, Cross County entered their tilt with High Plains with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. Cross County blew past High Plains 62-37. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Cross County has posted since December 19, 2023.
Cross County's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ashton Seim led the charge by scoring 15 points along with four steals. Seim continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Alex Noyd, who scored 15 points.
McCool Junction's victory bumped their record up to 10-2. As for Cross County, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season.
Thursday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: McCool Junction have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 46% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Cross County struggles in that department as they've made 45% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
McCool Junction came up short against Cross County in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, falling 44-31. Can McCool Junction avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
