Basketball Game Preview: Highland Hawks vs. Gilbert Tigers

The Highland Hawks will head out to challenge the Gilbert Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Wednesday, Highland beat Desert Ridge 66-54. The Hawks pushed the score to 56-34 by the end of the third, a deficit the Jaguars cut but never quite recovered from.

Emilee Searle was nothing short of spectacular: she went 10 for 18 en route to 27 points in addition to eight steals and seven boards. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in points. Addi Riggs was another key player, putting up six points along with six rebounds and five assists.

Meanwhile, Gilbert came tearing into Friday's match with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29 points) and they left with even more momentum. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Mountain Lions 57-22. The Tigers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 20 points or more this season.

Gilbert's win was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-6. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.6 points per game. As for Highland, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-9 record this season.

Highland took a serious blow against Gilbert in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, falling 75-25. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Highland was down 39-9.