Basketball Game Preview: Mica Mountain Thunderbolts vs. Salpointe Catholic Lancers

Mica Mountain hasn't had much luck against Salpointe Catholic recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Mica Mountain Thunderbolts will head out on the road to take on the Salpointe Catholic Lancers at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Mica Mountain took a loss when they played away from home last Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They managed a 45-40 victory over Ironwood Ridge. Given the Thunderbolts' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Nighthawks are ranked 89th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Salpointe Catholic entered their tilt with Sahuaro on Wednesday with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. They took down the Cougars 55-38. 55 seems to be a good number for the Lancers as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.

Salpointe Catholic's win came from a few key players Mica Mountain will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Sidney Anderson, who posted nine points along with seven boards and three steals. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in blocks (two). Another player making a difference was Hannah Williams, who put up 17 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals.

Salpointe Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Sahuaro only pulled down nine offensive boards.

Salpointe Catholic pushed their record up to 18-4 with the victory, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. As for Mica Mountain, their win bumped their record up to 16-6.

Mica Mountain was taken down by Salpointe Catholic 72-30 in their previous meeting two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Anderson, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 boards. Now that Mica Mountain knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.