Basketball Game Preview: Bennett Tigers vs. Prospect Ridge Academy Miners

The Bennett Tigers will venture away from home to take on the Prospect Ridge Academy Miners at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Bennett was handed a heart-breaking two-point defeat in their last game, but they sure didn't let that happen against Alameda on Monday. Bennett simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Alameda 85-34. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 101st in Colorado, while the Pirates are ranked 320th in Colorado), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Bennett can attribute much of their success to Owen Stiers, who went 7-for-13 from beyond the arc to rack up 30 points and five steals, and Jayden Ivory, who almost dropped a double-double with 24 points and nine boards. With that strong performance, Stiers is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. Another player making a difference was Avant Dickens, who posted nine points.

Meanwhile, Prospect Ridge Academy came tearing into Wednesday's contest with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21.5 points), and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victor by an 81-61 margin over the Eagles. The Miners pushed the score to 65-42 by the end of the third, a deficit the Eagles cut but never quite recovered from.

Bennett has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.9 points over those games. Prospect Ridge Academy pushed their record up to 16-6 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.