Preview: Prescott Badgers vs. Mingus Marauders
The Prescott Badgers will head out on the road to square off against the Mingus Marauders at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Even though Prescott has not done well against the Bears recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Monday. Prescott was the clear victor by a 48-26 margin over the Bears. The win was nothing new for Prescott as they're now sitting on three straight.
Prescott found their leader in underclassman Bella Abt, who almost dropped a triple-double on 12 points, 11 rebounds, and nine steals. Abt has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 12 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Addie Prisciandaro, who scored 13 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Mingus blew past the Thunderbirds, posting a 63-22 win at home. Given Mingus' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 86th, while the Thunderbirds are ranked 226th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mingus' success was spearheaded by the efforts of Brianka Villalobos, who scored 19 points along with six steals, and Savannah Tobias, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 steals. Tobias is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least three every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Makela Martinez, who scored eight points along with seven assists and five steals.
Prescott has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a massive bump to their 16-8 record this season. As for Mingus, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-5.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the pair are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Prescott hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 59.9 points per game. However, it's not like Mingus struggles in that department as they've been averaging 57 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Prescott skirted past the Marauders 54-51 in their previous meeting back in January. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Tobias, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Prescott still be able to contain Tobias? There's only one way to find out.
