Basketball Game Preview: Walden Grove Red Wolves vs. Sahuaro Cougars

Walden Grove hasn't had much luck against Sahuaro recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Walden Grove Red Wolves will head out on the road to face off against the Sahuaro Cougars at 7:00 p.m. Walden Grove is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 69.7 points per game this season.

Walden Grove is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Ironwood Ridge on Wednesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Walden Grove lost 77-52 to Ironwood Ridge. The Red Wolves were down 61-37 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.

Despite their loss, Walden Grove saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Malachi Kuti George, who posted ten points, was perhaps the best of all. Imileo Martinez was another key player, putting up 12 points.

Meanwhile, Sahuaro had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They snuck past the Rangers with a 74-70 victory. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 12th, while the Rangers are ranked 150th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Sahuaro pushed their record up to 15-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.0 points per game. As for Walden Grove, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-8.

Walden Grove was taken down by Sahuaro 74-29 when the teams last played back in December of 2021. Can Walden Grove avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.