Basketball Game Preview: Lehi Pioneers vs. Provo Bulldogs

The Lehi Pioneers and the Provo Bulldogs will compete for holiday cheer at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Lehi comes in on four and Provo on seven.

Lehi is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Timpview, who was ranked 17th at the time (Lehi was ranked 15th). Lehi secured a 35-29 W over Timpview on Tuesday. The 35-point effort marked the Pioneers' lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Lehi can attribute much of their success to Ellie Hill, who posted 14 points. Another player making a difference was Kelcee Rasmussen, who scored six points.

While Provo didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-14), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Everything went their way against Ogden on Tuesday as Provo made off with a 62-37 win. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine games by 25 points or more this season.

Provo found their leader in freshman Sutton Villa, who went 9 of 11 on her way to 21 points in addition to seven rebounds and six blocks. Villa is crushing it when it comes to blocks: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Sage Yenchik, who had ten points along with five assists and four steals.

Provo smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in 11 consecutive contests.

Provo pushed their record up to 10-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 31 points. As for Lehi, their win bumped their record up to 7-3.

Lehi beat Provo 45-35 in their previous meeting back in December of 2020. Will Lehi repeat their success, or does Provo have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.