The West Branch Warriors came tearing into Saturday's contest with nine straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They secured a 43-39 W over Howland. That's another feather in the cap for West Branch, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
When it comes to explaining why Howland lost, one person who can't be blamed is Alyssa Massucci. Despite the final result, she scored 11 points. Jessie DeSalvo was another key contributor, scoring seven points.
West Branch's win was their 15th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 19-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.3 points per game. As for Howland, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-6.
West Branch will be playing at home against Girard at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Girard will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Ohio Rankings (they are ranked 365th, while West Branch is ranked 25th). As for Howland, they will head out on the road to face off against Austintown-Fitch at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Austintown-Fitch focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine last Monday.
