Basketball Game Preview: Tooele Buffaloes vs. Grantsville Cowboys

The Tooele Buffaloes will head out on the road to take on the Grantsville Cowboys at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Tooele is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51 points per game this season.

Tooele is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Park City: they outscored them in every quarter. The stars were shining brightly for Tooele in a 51-36 win over Park City on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Buffaloes.

Tooele's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Macie Gustin led the charge by going 5 for 8 on her way to 13 points and five rebounds. Gustin has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. Kennedy Searle was another key player, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Tooele smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in six consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Grantsville put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They came out on top against Syracuse by a score of 55-48. The score was all tied up 28-28 at the break, but the Cowboys were the better team in the second half.

Grantsville's win came from a few key players Tooele will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Avery Allred, who almost dropped a double-double on 20 points and nine steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Grantsville's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Baylee Lowder, who posted 14 points along with eight rebounds and six assists.

Grantsville pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.4 points per game. As for Tooele, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.

Tooele took a serious blow against Grantsville in their previous meeting back in January of 2021, falling 58-25. Can Tooele avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.