The Pope County Pirates will square off against the Cobden Appleknockers at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Pope County's offense will try to repeat the strong performance it gave on Monday, when they got past Galatia/Thompsonville's usually-dominant defense. Pope County simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Galatia/Thompsonville 56-27. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Pirates had established a 25 point advantage.
Pope County's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Bella Fasolo, who went 7 of 13 en route to 19 points. Another player making a difference was Kenna Welter, who went 7 for 12 on her way to 14 points and six boards.
Pope County smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 21 consecutive contests.
Cobden played in conference for the first time on Monday and they got just the result they we're looking for. They came out on top against Joppa-Maple Grove by a score of 43-36.
Pope County better keep an eye on Natalie Franklin. She was instrumental in Cobden's win, dropping a double-double on 22 points and 16 rebounds. That makes it four consecutive games in which Franklin has scored at least a third of Cobden's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Abby Pitts, who posted 12 points and six boards.
Pope County has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season. As for Cobden, their victory ended a seven-game drought on the road and puts them at 6-13.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pope County has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 41.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Cobden struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Pope County was able to grind out a solid win over Cobden when the teams last played back in November of 2024, winning 37-30. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Franklin, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 boards. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Pope County still be able to contain Franklin? There's only one way to find out.
