The Blackhawk Cougars will look to defend their home court on Thursday against the Beaver Bobcats at 7:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Blackhawk has 12 straight victories, Beaver has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
In what's become a running theme this season, Blackhawk gave their fans yet another huge victory on Monday. They took their contest on the road with ease, bagging a 56-17 win over Quaker Valley. 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.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Blackhawk to victory, but perhaps none more so than 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. Another player making a difference was Aubree Hupp, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Beaver fought the good fight in their overtime matchup 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. The team also got some help courtesy of Bridget Mayo, who scored 11 points.
Blackhawk pushed their record up to 18-2 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.0 points per game. As for Beaver, they have been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-12 record this season.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Blackhawk hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 57.8 points per game. It's a different story for Beaver, though, as they've been averaging only 37.3 points per game. The only thing between Blackhawk and another offensive beatdown is Beaver. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Everything came up roses for Blackhawk against Beaver in their previous meeting back in January as the team secured a 42-14 win. Will Blackhawk repeat their success, or does Beaver have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
