Preview: ThunderRidge Grizzlies vs. Castle View Sabercats
ThunderRidge is 9-0 against the Sabercats since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The ThunderRidge Grizzlies will head out on the road to face off against the Castle View Sabercats at 7:00 p.m. ThunderRidge is looking to tack on another W to their six-game streak on the road.
Even though Ponderosa scored an imposing 62 points on Tuesday, ThunderRidge still came out on top. ThunderRidge snuck past the Mustangs with a 67-62 win. Given ThunderRidge's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while the Mustangs are ranked 32nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead ThunderRidge to victory, but perhaps none more so than Charlie Spann, who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds. Another player making a difference was Andrew Crawford, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Castle View came into Tuesday's contest having lost four straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Highlands Ranch on Tuesday and snuck past 59-56. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Vitorio Dante was his usual excellent self, almost dropping a double-double on 19 points and nine rebounds. He has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last seven times he's played. Evan Mckean was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
ThunderRidge is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-3 record this season. As for Castle View, their win bumped their record up to 11-7.
Everything came up roses for ThunderRidge against the Sabercats when the teams last played back in February of 2023 as the team secured a 82-40 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for ThunderRidge since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
