Basketball Game Preview: Valley Vista Monsoon vs. Apollo Hawks

The Valley Vista Monsoon will take on the Apollo Hawks at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Apollo will be up against a hot Valley Vista squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Valley Vista breezed by Shadow Ridge to the tune of 82-22 on Friday. Given the Monsoon's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked eighth, while the Stallions are ranked 123rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Apollo came tearing into Tuesday's match with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victor by a 55-32 margin over the Dragons. The Hawks' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.

Valley Vista is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.2 points per game. As for Apollo, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-7.

Everything went Valley Vista's way against Apollo in their previous matchup back in January, as Valley Vista made off with a 58-32 victory. Will Valley Vista repeat their success, or does Apollo have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.