Preview: Grand County Red Devils vs. North Summit Braves
Grand County has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the North Summit Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Grand County knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past 15 matches -- so hopefully North Summit likes a good challenge.
Even though Gunnison Valley scored an imposing 64 points on Saturday, Grand County still came out on top. Grand County walked away with a 77-64 win over Gunnison Valley. Grand County pushed the score to 66-45 by the end of the third, a deficit Gunnison Valley cut but never quite recovered from.
Grand County's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Wyatt Toney led the charge by scoring 15 points along with eight assists and eight rebounds. That's the first time this season that Toney posted eight or more assists. Another player making a difference was Lane Berry, who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds and three blocks.
Meanwhile, North Summit unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Friday. They fell to Duchesne 56-50.
Trevor Richins put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored 32 points along with nine rebounds and four steals. Jake Smith was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with two steals.
Grand County's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-9. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.0 points per game. As for North Summit, their loss dropped their record down to 13-6.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Grand County have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 41.7% of their threes per game. However, it's not like North Summit struggles in that department as they've made 45.2% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Grand County couldn't quite finish off North Summit in their previous meeting on January 13th and fell 72-70. Can Grand County avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
