The Kennedy Knights will be staying on the road on Saturday to face off against the West Milford Highlanders at 11:00 a.m. on February 10th. Hopefully Kennedy focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 24 on Thursday.
On Thursday, Kennedy took a serious blow against Eastside, falling 53-26. Kennedy has struggled against Eastside recently, as their matchup on Thursday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, Kennedy got a solid performance out of My'Shayla Clancy, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds. Clancy has been hot recently, having posted 11 or more rebounds the last four times she's played.
West Milford only won by three when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 23-point they dealt Fair Lawn on Thursday. West Milford was the clear victor by a 51-28 margin over Fair Lawn. The win made it back-to-back wins for West Milford.
West Milford's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kailey Maskerines led the charge by scoring ten points along with four steals. Maskerines hasn't dropped below two steals for five straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Laurel Space, who scored five points along with six steals.
Kennedy's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 15-8. As for West Milford, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-8 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Kennedy have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like West Milford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Kennedy was able to grind out a solid win over West Milford when the teams last played back in January, winning 44-37. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was West Milford's Avery Vacca, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Kennedy still be able to contain Vacca? There's only one way to find out.
