Preview: Mercer Island Islanders vs. Ridgeline Riverhawks
Two dominant guards in Caitlin Monahan and Emilee Skinner are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mercer Island Islanders will take on the Ridgeline Riverhawks in a holiday battle at 11:50 a.m. on Monday at. Mercer Island is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt want to keep things rolling.
Last Friday, Mercer Island faced Liberty in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Mercer Island managed a 50-44 win over Liberty. Despite the victory, that was the fewest points Mercer Island has scored all season.
Monahan continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds. The match was her seventh in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Elianna Weiss, who scored 11 points along with four steals.
Ridgeline has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three contests by 29 points or more this season. They claimed a resounding 78-49 win over Bountiful on the road. Ridgeline's offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Ridgeline's win on Friday was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Hallee Smith, who scored 19 points along with eight assists and five steals. Smith continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Skinner, who scored 22 points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Mercer Island pushed their record up to 7-0 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.0 points per game. As for Ridgeline, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 5-2.
Keep an eye on the arc in Monday's contest: Mercer Island have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 9.6 threes per game. It's a different story for Ridgeline, though, as they've been averaging only 5.4 threes per game. Given Mercer Island's sizeable advantage in that area, Ridgeline will need to find a way to close that gap. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
