Preview: Perkiomen Valley Vikings vs. Spring-Ford Rams
Perkiomen Valley has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Spring-Ford Rams at 6:45 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Tuesday, Perkiomen Valley blew past the Wildcats, posting a 64-33 victory at home. Given Perkiomen Valley's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 16th, while the Wildcats are ranked 340th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Perkiomen Valley got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Anna Stein out in front who scored 15 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Stein has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Grace Miley, who scored 14 points.
Meanwhile, Spring-Ford entered their tilt with the Warriors with six consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with seven. Spring-Ford really took it to the Warriors for the full four quarters, racking up a 71-28 victory on the road. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Spring-Ford had established a 34 point advantage.
Anna Azzara was her usual excellent self, scoring 18 points along with six assists and six steals. Aaliyah Solliday was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with two steals.
Perkiomen Valley pushed their record up to 20-1 with that win, which was their 23rd straight at home dating back to last season. They've been dominating during the matches in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 34.4 points. As for Spring-Ford, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 13 games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-3 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Perkiomen Valley have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 26.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Spring-Ford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Perkiomen Valley was able to grind out a solid victory over the Rams when the teams last played back in January, winning 61-48. The rematch might be a little tougher for Perkiomen Valley since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
