Preview: Natoma Tigers vs. Pike Valley Panthers
Natoma is 1-9 against Pike Valley since February of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the Natoma Tigers will get right back to it and host the Pike Valley Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on February 9th. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Natoma's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fourth straight loss. They were dealt a 63-30 loss at the hands of Stockton.
Meanwhile, Pike Valley suffered a tough 69-43 defeat at the hands of Osborne on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Pike Valley can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 268th, while Osborne is ranked 88th).
The losing side was boosted by Andrew Cooper, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. That was a full 37.2% of Pike Valley's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Elijah Field, who scored 12 points along with two steals.
Natoma has traveled a rocky road recently having lost seven of their last eight games, which is still a better percentage than their 1-13 record this season. As for Pike Valley, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 7-6.
Natoma was dealt a bruising 75-15 defeat at the hands of Pike Valley in their previous meeting last Tuesday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cooper, who scored 26 points along with six rebounds. Now that Natoma knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
