The Beaver Bobcats will head out on the road to face off against the Blackhawk Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Beaver has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while Blackhawk will arrive with 12 straight wins.
Beaver fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Central Valley on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 51-50 to the Warriors.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Annsley Baker, who scored 14 points. Another player making a difference was Bridget Mayo, who scored 11 points.
Meanwhile, Blackhawk can now show off 15 landslide victories after their most recent game on Monday. They blew past Quaker Valley 56-17 on the road. Given Blackhawk's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 68th, while Quaker Valley is ranked 460th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Blackhawk's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Alena Fusetti, who scored 16 points along with four steals. Fusetti has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last eight times she's played. Aubree Hupp was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Beaver has traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last eight matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-12 record this season. As for Blackhawk, they pushed their record up to 18-2 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Beaver haven't given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 4.7 turnovers per game. However, it's not like Blackhawk struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 8.9 turnovers per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Beaver was dealt a bruising 42-14 loss at the hands of Blackhawk in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Fusetti, who scored 19 points along with two steals. Now that Beaver knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
