A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Melissa Cardinals face off against the Walnut Grove Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday... Melissa knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past eight matchups -- so hopefully Walnut Grove likes a good challenge.
Melissa took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They put the hurt on McKinney North with a sharp 62-39 win. Given the Cardinals' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 87th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 426th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Walnut Grove entered their tilt with Anna on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They walked away with a 60-50 victory over the Coyotes.
Melissa better focus on containing Parker Evanson and Mason Ward as the pair were huge in Walnut Grove's win. Evanson went 7 for 13 on his way to 19 points and five boards, while Ward went 6 of 9 en route to 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Attie Reeves, who posted six points and nine rebounds.
Walnut Grove smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. They are 5-1 when they hit their own glass that hard.
Melissa's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-12. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 21.5 points. As for Walnut Grove, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 24-9 record this season.
Melissa beat Walnut Grove 59-46 in their previous matchup back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for Melissa since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
