Basketball Game Preview: Browne Bruins vs. Maryvale Panthers

The Browne Bruins will head out to square off against the Maryvale Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Tuesday, Browne earned a 59-50 win over Cibola. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bruins.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Browne to victory, but perhaps none more so than Desmynn Beavers-Smith, who posted 15 points and six rebounds. Beavers-Smith is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Dee Shaw, who went 5 of 12 en route to 13 points.

Meanwhile, Maryvale entered their tilt with South Mountain on Tuesday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They put the hurt on the Jaguars with a sharp 52-26 victory. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 94th, while the Jaguars are ranked 259th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Maryvale's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-8. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.8 points per game. As for Browne, their record is now 9-12.

Browne lost to Maryvale on the road by a decisive 73-54 margin in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. Thankfully for Browne, Avy Luna Mena (who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 12 boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.