Basketball Game Preview: Conemaugh Valley Blue Jays vs. Cambria Heights Highlanders

The Conemaugh Valley Blue Jays will take on the Cambria Heights Highlanders in a holiday battle at at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Conemaugh Valley has struggled recently with seven defeats in a row, while Cambria Heights will arrive with four straight wins.

Last Wednesday, Conemaugh Valley came up short against Conemaugh Township and fell 51-39.

Illy Darcangelo

Points

12/18/24 @ Conemaugh Township	20
12/12/24 vs Portage	11
12/16/24 vs Ferndale	8
12/10/24 @ West Shamokin	7
12/17/24 @ Blacklick Valley	3

Despite the loss, Conemaugh Valley saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Illy Darcangelo went 7 of 9 en route to 20 points and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Darcangelo has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Gwen Masser, who posted nine points and seven boards.

Even though they lost, Conemaugh Valley was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Cambria Heights hadn't done well against United recently (they were 0-4 in their previous four matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Cambria Heights put the hurt on United with a sharp 57-36 victory. The Highlanders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 21 points or more this season.

Cambria Heights has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 36.2 points. As for Conemaugh Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-7.

Conemaugh Valley was taken down by Cambria Heights 60-30 in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cambria Heights' Sienna Kirsch, who almost dropped a double-double on 29 points and nine steals. Now that Conemaugh Valley knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.