The Palmyra Panthers will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against the Conestoga Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on January 16th. Palmyra will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Nebraska Rankings (they are ranked 215th, while Conestoga is ranked 44th).
Palmyra suffered their biggest loss yet this season last Friday. They took a serious blow against Auburn, falling 69-33. Palmyra was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 43-18.
The losing side was boosted by Drew Erhart, who scored 20 points along with two blocks. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Gou Kamishita, who scored five points.
Meanwhile, Conestoga scored the most points they've had all season to find success last Saturday. They breezed by Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer at home to the tune of 69-24. With Conestoga ahead 29-9 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Conestoga relied on the efforts of Zachariah Smith, who scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and three steals, and Owen Trofholz, who scored 25 points along with six assists and five rebounds. Smith hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for five straight games. Mason Merwald was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with three steals.
Palmyra bumped their record down to 1-9 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road. As for Conestoga, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-1.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Palmyra have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 21 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Conestoga, though, as they've been averaging only 30.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Palmyra strolled past Conestoga in their previous matchup back in January of 2023 by a score of 59-43. The rematch might be a little tougher for Palmyra since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
