Philip has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will face off against the Wall Eagles at TBD on Thursday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
With a playoff game on the line, Philip rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They strolled past the Coyotes with points to spare, taking the game 41-24. The win was just what Philip needed coming off of a 69-39 loss in their prior match.
Philip found their leader in underclassman Drew Terkildsen, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds. Mattisen Reckling was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with seven rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Wall can now show off 13 landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Tuesday. They really took it to New Underwood for the full four quarters, racking up a 50-22 win at home. Given Wall's advantage in MaxPreps' South Dakota basketball rankings (they are ranked 28th, while New Underwood is ranked 135th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Wall had a senior duo take command as Rhea Tucker scored 15 points along with five steals and Nora Dinger scored 12 points along with seven steals. Tucker has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 14 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Paige Kjerstad, who scored eight points along with five steals.
Philip now has a winning record of 11-10. As for Wall, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Philip have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Wall struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Philip was taken down by Wall 70-37 in their previous meeting last Monday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kjerstad, who almost dropped a double-double on 25 points and nine rebounds. Now that Philip knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
