The Creede Miners will face off against the Moffat Cowboys at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Moffat will be up against a hot Creede squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Creede simply couldn't be stopped last Saturday as they easily beat Antonito 64-26. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 39-10.
Creede got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Lila Fairchild out in front who dropped a double-double on 30 points and 14 steals. That makes it eight consecutive games in which Fairchild has scored at least a third of Creede's points. Jasmin Laing was another key player, dropping a triple-double on 16 points, 11 rebounds, and ten steals.
Creede was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 11.8.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Moffat's strategy against Lake City on Saturday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Moffat blew Lake City out of the water with a 51-12 final score. The win continues a trend for the Cowboys in their matchups with Lake City: they've now won four in a row.
Creede better focus on containing Kandra Pollard and Shauna Pollard as the pair were huge in Moffat's win. Kandra dropped a double-double on ten points and ten boards, while Shauna dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten steals. Kandra is also crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Aurora Pesqueira, who posted seven points in addition to seven steals and five rebounds.
Creede's victory bumped their record up to 7-8. As for Moffat, their win bumped their record up to 6-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Creede has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Moffat struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Creede against Moffat in their previous matchup back in January, as the squad secured a 65-19 victory. In that contest, Creede amassed a halftime lead of 36-12, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.
