Basketball Game Preview: Albuquerque Academy Chargers vs. Valley Vikings

Albuquerque Academy and Valley are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2021, but not for long. The Albuquerque Academy Chargers will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Valley Vikings at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Albuquerque Academy has nine straight wins, Valley has ten straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Thursday, Albuquerque Academy made easy work of Bernalillo and carried off a 51-29 victory. Given the Chargers' advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 16th, while the Spartans are ranked 75th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Addie Spratley was her usual excellent self, going 7 of 15 en route to 23 points in addition to seven boards and seven steals. The matchup was her third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Lily Skarsgard, who posted nine points along with six rebounds and three steals.

Albuquerque Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in 18 consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Valley ended up a good deal behind Cottonwood Classical Prep on Wednesday and lost 63-49.

Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 3-15. As for Albuquerque Academy, they have been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-4 record this season.

Everything came up roses for Albuquerque Academy against Valley when the teams last played two weeks ago, as the team secured a 57-12 win. In that matchup, Albuquerque Academy amassed a halftime lead of 33-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.