South Tahoe is 10-0 against Sparks since January of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The South Tahoe Vikings will head out on the road to take on the Sparks Railroaders at 6:00 p.m. Sparks took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on South Tahoe, who comes in off a win.
South Tahoe is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Truckee: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that South Tahoe blew Truckee out of the water with a 46-7 final score. The Vikings have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 20 points or more this season.
| 02/05/25 vs Truckee | 2 |
| 01/31/25 vs Wooster | 2 |
| 01/29/25 vs North Valleys | 2 |
It was another big night for Campbell Mathews, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. She has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. Carly Cox was another key player, putting up nine points and four steals.
Meanwhile, Sparks came up short against Wooster on Tuesday and fell 37-26.
South Tahoe will need focus on slowing down Bailey Hunden, one of several Sparks players who made an impact when they last played. She dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten boards. Another player making a difference was Shea Patterson, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and ten rebounds.
Even though they lost, Sparks smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in three consecutive contests.
South Tahoe has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 12-10 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.0 points per game. As for Sparks, their loss was their sixth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 5-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: South Tahoe has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 38.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Sparks struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything went South Tahoe's way against Sparks when the teams last played back in January, as South Tahoe made off with a 49-23 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for South Tahoe since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
