Preview: Grand Valley Cardinals vs. Cedaredge Bruins
Grand Valley is 8-2 against Cedaredge since January of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Grand Valley Cardinals will play host again and welcome the Cedaredge Bruins, where tip off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Grand Valley earned a 54-45 win over Olathe.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Grand Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jaycee Pittman, who scored 19 points along with five assists and five rebounds. That makes it five consecutive games in which Pittman has scored at least a third of Grand Valley's points. Another player making a difference was Chloe Williams, who scored ten points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Cedaredge beat Gunnison 29-22 on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Cedaredge.
Cedaredge's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Addie Hanson, who scored eight points along with eight rebounds and four steals. Hanson has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Carley Malinowski, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine rebounds.
Grand Valley's victory was their 16th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-0. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.3 points per game. As for Cedaredge, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-7 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Grand Valley have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Cedaredge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Grand Valley beat Cedaredge 33-24 when the teams last played back in January. Will Grand Valley repeat their success, or does Cedaredge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
