Preview: Eaglecrest Raptors vs. ThunderRidge Grizzlies
The Eaglecrest Raptors will challenge the ThunderRidge Grizzlies at 5:45 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Eaglecrest sitting on four straight wins and ThunderRidge on three.
Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Eaglecrest walked away with it. They came out on top against the Wildcats by a score of 61-53 on Thursday.
Garrett Barger continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 18 points and 13 rebounds. He hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for seven straight games. Another player making a difference was Lucas Kalimba, who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but ThunderRidge ultimately got the result they hoped for on Thursday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Rock Canyon 62-60. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Tommy Wight and Andrew Crawford were among the main playmakers for ThunderRidge as the former scored 20 points along with five rebounds and the latter almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Drew Paine, who scored six points along with two steals and two blocks.
Eaglecrest has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 20-6 record this season. As for ThunderRidge, their victory bumped their record up to 21-5.
Friday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Eaglecrest have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 45.6% of their threes per game. However, it's not like ThunderRidge struggles in that department as they've made 47.5% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Eaglecrest strolled past ThunderRidge in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 by a score of 75-56. Does Eaglecrest have another victory up their sleeve, or will ThunderRidge turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
