Hug hasn't had much luck against South Tahoe recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Hug Hawks will be playing in front of their home fans against the South Tahoe Vikings at 6:00 p.m.
Hug is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against North Valleys on Wednesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Hug came up short against North Valleys, falling 46-24. While losing is never fun, the Hawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nevada basketball rankings (they are ranked 57th, while the Panthers are ranked sixth).
| 01/22/25 vs North Valleys | 6 |
| 01/18/25 vs Spring Creek | 8 |
| 01/17/25 @ Truckee | 9 |
| 01/15/25 @ Sparks | 8 |
| 01/08/25 vs Wooster | 9 |
The losing side was boosted by Cori Carrier, who posted 12 points along with eight rebounds and six steals. Carrier is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least four every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Amiah Ahonima, who dropped a double-double on ten boards and 11 blocks.
Meanwhile, South Tahoe had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Wolverines as they made off with a 42-22 victory. The Vikings have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 20 points or more this season.
Hug better keep an eye on Avery Long. She was instrumental in South Tahoe's win, almost dropping a double-double on 22 points and nine rebounds. With that strong performance, Long is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. Carly Cox was another key player, putting up ten points in addition to five boards and four steals.
South Tahoe smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in 19 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
This is the second loss in a row for Hug and nudges their season record down to 8-8. As for South Tahoe, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a massive bump to their 9-9 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's game: Hug has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 42% of their three-pointers per game. It's a different story for South Tahoe, though, as they've only made 10.4% of their threes this season. Given Hug's sizable advantage in that area, South Tahoe will need to find a way to close that gap.
Hug took a serious blow against South Tahoe in their previous meeting two weeks ago, falling 49-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of South Tahoe's Campbell Mathews, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds. Now that Hug knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
