Basketball Game Preview: Rock Canyon Jaguars vs. ThunderRidge Grizzlies

The Rock Canyon Jaguars will square off against the ThunderRidge Grizzlies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Rock Canyon knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five matches -- so hopefully ThunderRidge likes a good challenge.

Last Tuesday, Rock Canyon earned a 67-58 victory over Heritage.

Kasen Lehman was his usual excellent self, going 11 for 20 en route to 29 points. His evening made it seven games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Kai Valentine was another key player, dropping a double-double on 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for ThunderRidge, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. They put the hurt on Castle View with a sharp 82-57 win on Wednesday. Given the Grizzlies' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Sabercats are ranked 113th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Rock Canyon better focus on containing Kael Carney and Drew Paine as the pair were huge in ThunderRidge's win. Carney posted 22 points, while Paine put up 24 points. The dominant performance gave Carney a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Ulysses Brown, who had eight points.

Rock Canyon has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 8-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.3 points per game. As for ThunderRidge, their victory bumped their record up to 11-5.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Rock Canyon and ThunderRidge are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Rock Canyon hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 61.8 points per game. However, it's not like ThunderRidge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 67.5 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

Rock Canyon couldn't quite finish off ThunderRidge when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 62-60. Will Rock Canyon have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.