Preview: Roy Royals vs. Bountiful RedHawks
The Roy Royals will be playing in front of their home fans against the Bountiful RedHawks at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Roy was able to grind out a solid victory over Woods Cross, taking the game 55-47.
Ariana Strain was nothing short of spectacular: she scored 15 points along with two steals. It was the first time this season that she grabbed two or more steals. Rihanna Jones was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Meanwhile, Bountiful had already won 13 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.8 points), and they went ahead and made it 14 on Friday. They secured a 50-46 W over Clearfield.
It was another big night for Milika Satuala, who scored 24 points. She has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last seven times she's played. Another player making a difference was Taylor Harvey, who scored 12 points.
Roy's victory bumped their record up to 7-14. As for Bountiful, they pushed their record up to 18-3 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Roy have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Bountiful struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Roy suffered a grim 54-29 defeat to Bountiful when the teams last played back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Satuala, who scored 21 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Now that Roy knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
