The Wellington Dukes will head out on the road to face off against the Vermilion Sailors at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Wellington has three straight victories, Vermilion has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Wednesday, Wellington didn't have too much trouble with Clearview on the road as they won 57-40. Given Wellington's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 317th, while Clearview is ranked 670th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Wellington's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Gabby Miller, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Brooke Lehmkuhl, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 13 rebounds. Miller hasn't dropped below nine rebounds for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Taylor Morris, who scored six points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Vermilion came up short against Edison on Tuesday and fell 46-35.
Wellington's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-6. As for Vermilion, they have not been sharp recently as the team's lost six of their last seven contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-13 record this season.
Wellington couldn't quite finish off Vermilion when the teams last played back in February of 2023 and fell 49-47. Can Wellington avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.