Basketball Game Preview: Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks vs. Mica Mountain Thunderbolts

The Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks will take on the Mica Mountain Thunderbolts at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Ironwood Ridge is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57.6 points per game this season.

Mica Mountain is facing Ironwood Ridge at the wrong time: Ironwood Ridge suffered their first home loss of the season on Tuesday and they're likely out for redemption. They fell 62-49 to the Cougars. While losing is never fun, the Nighthawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while the Cougars are ranked 12th).

Carter Brown put forth a good effort for the losing side as he posted 22 points and six boards. The matchup was his third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Derek Overton, who put up eight points.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Mica Mountain, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Wednesday. They took down Walden Grove 71-55 on Tuesday.

Mica Mountain's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-7. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 24.8 points. As for Ironwood Ridge, their defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-9.