Howland is 8-2 against Austintown-Fitch since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Howland Tigers will head out on the road to square off against the Austintown-Fitch Falcons at 7:00 p.m. Howland is looking to tack on another W to their four-game streak on the road.
On Saturday, Howland was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 43-39 to West Branch. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Howland in their matchups with West Branch: they've now lost five in a row.
Alyssa Massucci put forth a good effort for the losing side as she scored 11 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jessie DeSalvo, who scored seven points.
Meanwhile, Austintown-Fitch scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Monday. They breezed by South Range at home to the tune of 65-27. Given Austintown-Fitch's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 119th, while South Range is ranked 450th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Austintown-Fitch found their leader in underclassman Kylie Folkwein, who scored 18 points along with five rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Folkwein has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Destanie Mccullough, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Howland's defeat dropped their record down to 15-6. As for Austintown-Fitch, their victory bumped their record up to 13-7.
Howland came up short against Austintown-Fitch when the teams last played last Wednesday, falling 54-50. Can Howland avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
