Basketball Recap: Hayfork Takes Down Princeton in a Playoff Battle

Timberjacks

Margin (Wins)

01/14/25 @ South Fork	48
01/17/25 vs Big Valley	45
01/07/25 vs Maxwell	41
02/21/25 vs Big Valley	39
02/26/25 vs Princeton	35

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Hayfork had no problem doing just that on Wednesday. They blew past the Princeton Eagles 63-28. The Timberjacks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 contests by 21 points or more this season.

Hayfork's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sidney Medellin, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards. Those 20 points gave Medellin a new career-high. Lydia Yarbrough was another key player, putting up six points along with ten steals and six rebounds.

Hayfork was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Princeton only five assists.

Jada Dillard and Mackenzie Wills certainly did their best on Wednesday to avoid the loss. Dillard went 6-for-8 to rack up 13 points, while Wills posted six points. That was a full 46.4% of Princeton's points, marking the fifth time in a row Dillard has earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Guadalupe Espinoza, who scored a point and three blocks.

Hayfork has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 22.6 points over those games. Princeton moved to 12-10 with that loss, which also ended their three-game winning streak.

Coming up, Hayfork will square off against Chester at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Chester sitting on three straight wins and Hayfork on four. Princeton does not have any more games scheduled as of now.