West Liberty-Salem has played every game this season on their home court, but they'll have to hit the road on Thursday. They will face off against the Mechanicsburg Indians at 7:30 p.m. West Liberty-Salem knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three games -- so hopefully Mechanicsburg likes a good challenge.
West Liberty-Salem has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matches by 37 points or more this season. They claimed a resounding 60-20 victory over West Jefferson at home. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-13.
West Liberty-Salem's win on Saturday was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Lilly Weaver, who scored 17 points. Weaver is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Megan Hollar, who scored 16 points.
Meanwhile, Mechanicsburg was fully in charge on Saturday, breezing past Fairbanks 54-19 on the road. Given Mechanicsburg's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 69th, while Fairbanks is ranked 314th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
West Liberty-Salem pushed their record up to 3-0 with that victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.0 points per game. As for Mechanicsburg, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-1.
Things could have been worse for West Liberty-Salem, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 61-45 loss to Mechanicsburg when the teams last played back in February. Can West Liberty-Salem avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.