Preview: Mesa Jackrabbits vs. Pinnacle Pioneers
The Mesa Jackrabbits will head out on the road to square off against the Pinnacle Pioneers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Mesa focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 27 on Thursday.
Mesa unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak. The match between them and Dobson wasn't particularly close, with Mesa falling 48-31.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Amya Bekele and Ahdiayh Chee. Chee had a solid game and scored 13 points. Meanwhile, Bekele did her best for the losing side, scoring six points along with nine rebounds and three steals.
In what's become a running theme this season, Pinnacle gave their fans yet another huge win last Friday. They took their matchup on the road with ease, bagging a 83-33 victory over Mountain Ridge. Given Pinnacle's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 12th, while Mountain Ridge is ranked 159th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Norah Moo, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. She has been hot recently, having posted 11 or more rebounds the last six times she's played. Rylee Fraley-Gonzales was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with six assists and two steals.
Mesa's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 16-11. As for Pinnacle, they are on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-6 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Mesa have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Pinnacle struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Mesa ended up a good deal behind Pinnacle in their previous meeting back in January, losing 52-36. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pinnacle's Mia Singstock, who almost dropped a double-double on 25 points and nine rebounds. Now that Mesa knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
