Preview: West Grand Mustangs vs. Olathe Pirates
Two dominant in Makaila Gifford and Tyra Gray are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The West Grand Mustangs on the road again on Thursday and play against the Olathe Pirates at 4:00 p.m. on January 25th. Hopefully West Grand focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Saturday.
West Grand scored the most points they've had all season to find success. They claimed a resounding 70-11 win over Vail Christian on the road. That 59 points margin sets a new team best for West Grand this season.
Luci Bruchez and Sage Wheatley were among the main playmakers for West Grand as the former dropped a double-double on 23 points and 11 rebounds and the latter scored 24 points along with seven steals and five rebounds. That's the first time this season that Bruchez scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jocelyn Holmes, who scored 14 points along with nine rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Olathe unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell 34-25 to Grand Valley. While losing is never fun, Olathe can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 125th, while Grand Valley is ranked 45th).
West Grand pushed their record up to 8-2 with that victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.0 points per game. As for Olathe, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-4.
West Grand came up short against Olathe in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, falling 36-32. Can West Grand avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
