The Thunder Ridge Longhorns will take on the Rock Hills Grizzlies at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Monday, Thunder Ridge came up short against Hill City and fell 45-32.
Lexi Rust
| 02/17/25 vs Hill City | 10 |
| 01/14/25 vs Lakeside | 8 |
| 12/06/24 vs Stockton | 6 |
| 02/04/25 @ St. John's/Tipton Catholic | 5 |
| 01/24/25 vs Lakeside | 5 |
Despite their loss, Thunder Ridge saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Lexi Rust, who posted eight points and ten boards, was perhaps the best of all. The dominant performance gave Rust a new career-high in rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jenna Barnes, who scored seven points and four steals.
Even though they lost, Thunder Ridge 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 13 offensive rebounds in eight consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Rock Hills had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They blew past the Leopards 52-13. The Grizzlies have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 23 points or more this season.
Thunder Ridge better focus on containing Halle Mizner and Bethany Simmelink as the pair were huge in Rock Hills' win. Mizner dropped a double-double with 25 points and ten boards, while Simmelink went 6-for-15 to rack up 15 points along with six assists and six steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Mizner has scored at least a third of Rock Hills' points. Alivia Lindberg was another key player, putting up five points and seven rebounds.
Rock Hills' win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-3. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 20.0 points over those games. As for Thunder Ridge, they have been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six games, which has put a noticeable dent in their 6-10 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Thunder Ridge has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Rock Hills struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Thunder Ridge was dealt a bruising 57-29 defeat at the hands of Rock Hills in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mizner, who went 9-for-18 en route to 24 points in addition to eight boards and four steals. Now that Thunder Ridge knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
