Preview: Mesa Jackrabbits vs. Dobson Mustangs
Mesa is 10-0 against Dobson since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Mesa Jackrabbits will be playing at home against the Dobson Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Mesa entered their tilt with Skyline with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. Mesa put the hurt on Skyline with a sharp 65-40 win on Tuesday. Given Mesa's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while Skyline is ranked 254th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mesa had a senior duo take command as Conway Cummard scored 20 points along with five assists and McKy Peters scored 17 points along with six rebounds. Cummard hasn't dropped below 15points for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jarren Galarza, who scored six points along with six rebounds and five assists.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Dobson beat Mountain View 55-50 on Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Dobson.
Donovan Beard continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 20 points along with five assists and three steals. He has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Demetrius Malone, who scored four points along with six rebounds and three blocks.
Mesa has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season. As for Dobson, the victory got them back to even at 9-9.
Thursday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Mesa have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 44.2% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Dobson struggles in that department as they've made 39.5% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Mesa didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Dobson when the teams last played back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 55-50 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Beard, who scored 21 points along with two steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Mesa still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
