Mineral Ridge has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will take on the Lowellville Rockets at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Monday, things could have been worse for Mineral Ridge, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 48-33 loss to Mogadore. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Mineral Ridge came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 220th, while Mogadore is ranked 501st).
Mineral Ridge's defeat came about despite a quality game from Ava Hulett, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 15 rebounds. Hulett has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last six times she's played. Lily Merolillo was another key contributor, scoring five points along with nine rebounds.
Even though they lost, Mineral Ridge smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mogadore only pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.
Lowellville suffered their biggest defeat since November 30, 2023 on Monday. Their rough 47-25 defeat to Springfield might stick with them for a while. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss Lowellville has suffered against Springfield since January 25, 2021.
Despite the defeat, Lowellville saw an underclassman step up: Sydney Procick scored seven points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Mineral Ridge's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 14-2. As for Lowellville, they dropped their record down to 5-10 with that defeat, which was their eighth straight at home.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Mineral Ridge hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 57.5 points per game. It's a different story for Lowellville, though, as they've been averaging only 35.9 points per game. The only thing between Mineral Ridge and another offensive beatdown is Lowellville. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Mineral Ridge strolled past Lowellville when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a score of 63-44. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Lowellville's Morgan Lewis, who scored 13 points along with five steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Mineral Ridge still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
