Basketball Game Preview: Tonopah Muckers vs. Indian Springs Thunderbirds

The Tonopah Muckers are taking a road trip to square off against the Indian Springs Thunderbirds at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Tonopah is coming into the game hot, having won their last four games.

Tonopah is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Saturday as they easily beat Beatty 56-25. With the Muckers ahead 36-8 at the half, the contest was all but over already.

Tonopah found their leader in sophomore Landen Blackburn, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. Blackburn is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down nine or more in the last seven games he's played. Drew Otteson was another key player, putting up nine points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals.

Tonopah was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Indian Springs played a tough match on Wednesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against Spring Mountain, falling 64-42. The Thunderbirds were down 55-28 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Indian Springs' defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-6. As for Tonopah, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-7 record this season.

Tonopah was able to grind out a solid victory over Indian Springs in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, winning 43-30. Does Tonopah have another victory up their sleeve, or will Indian Springs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.