On Friday, Northwest Rankin faced Morton in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Northwest Rankin Cougars were the clear victor by a 43-23 margin over the Morton Panthers. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 20 points or more this season.
Northwest Rankin got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Malia Mccelleis out in front who went 5 for 10 en route to 12 points plus three steals. Mccelleis is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last nine games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Kennedi Smith, who scored nine points plus seven rebounds and four steals.
Morton's loss came despite strong showings from Nazrin Lyles and Mariona Boyd. Lyles posted eight points, while Boyd earned four points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Northwest Rankin has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season. As for Morton, their defeat ended an eight-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 5-3.
Northwest Rankin didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 46-42 victory against Starkville on the 7th. Morton has also already played their next contest (against Northwest Rankin), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
