Basketball Game Preview: Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils vs. Miami Vandals

The Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils will head out to challenge the Miami Vandals at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Santa Cruz Valley has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Miami will arrive with 20 straight wins.

On Monday, Santa Cruz Valley had to suffer through a 63-27 loss at the hands of Veritas Prep.

Despite the loss, Santa Cruz Valley had strong showings from Zaryah Bursey, who posted 11 points, and Mionette Banda, who earned eight points. Those eight points gave Banda a new career-high.

Meanwhile, Miami hadn't done well against San Carlos recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Monday. Miami walked away with a 76-68 victory over San Carlos.

Santa Cruz Valley better keep an eye on Tamia Pietila. She was instrumental in Miami's win, dropping a double-double on 32 points and 13 boards. That makes it six consecutive games in which Pietila has scored at least a third of Miami's points. Olivia Chacon was another key player, going 6 for 9 en route to 13 points along with eight rebounds and five steals.

Miami was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now racked up at least 20 assists in three consecutive matches.

Miami pushed their record up to 24-1 with the win, which was their tenth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.4 points per game. As for Santa Cruz Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-12.

Santa Cruz Valley took a serious blow against Miami when the teams last played back in February of 2022, falling 80-26. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Santa Cruz Valley was down 57-19.