A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Everton Tigers challenge the Bronaugh Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday... Everton is coming into the game on a three-game losing streak.
Everton might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 76-38 to Varsity Opponent, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior.
Despite the loss, Everton saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Joshua Daniels dropped a double-double on 27 points and 11 rebounds. That was a full 71.1% of Everton's points, marking the eighth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Zayn Powers was another key player, putting up three points.
Meanwhile, Bronaugh was able to grind out a solid win over Hume two weeks ago, taking the game 52-45. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.
Bronaugh's win came from a few key players Everton will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Strauss Banes, who went 7 for 17 on his way to 23 points and seven steals. His evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Bowling, who went 6 of 10 on his way to 20 points and five steals.
Bronaugh was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Bronaugh has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.3 points per game. As for Everton, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Everton has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 30.2 boards per game. However, it's not like Bronaugh struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everton took a serious blow against Bronaugh in their previous matchup back in January, falling 98-40. Thankfully for Everton, Tucker Duncan (who went 19 of 22 on his way to 46 points and four steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
