Basketball Game Preview: Sterling Tigers vs. Valley Vikings

The Sterling Tigers will be taking part in a tournament against the Valley Vikings at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Sterling will be strutting in after a victory while Valley will be coming in after a loss.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Sterling and Brush meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. The Tigers walked away with a 43-30 win over the Beetdiggers.

Sterling got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Taylor Tonche out in front who posted 14 points. Makenzie Beck was another key player, putting up ten points.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 52-10, which was the final score in Valley's tilt against Platte Valley on Friday.

Sterling will need to focus on slowing down Jazmine Frias, one of several Valley players who made an impact when they last played. She earned no points in addition to 12 rebounds and five blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Katherine Orona Aguilar, who put up five points.

The win got Sterling back to even at 1-1. As for Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-2.

Sterling didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Valley when the teams last played back in February, but they still walked away with a 47-43 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.