Basketball Game Preview: Yuma Criminals vs. Dysart Demons

Yuma hasn't had much luck against Dysart recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Yuma Criminals will look to defend their home court against the Dysart Demons at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

While Yuma didn't have the best season last year (they finished 6-10), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They strolled past Desert Sunrise with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 56-38. Given the Criminals' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while the Golden Hawks are ranked 206th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Yuma can attribute much of their success to Legend Redmond, who went 7 for 11 on her way to 15 points and six steals. Redmond is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Naveah Hawkins, who posted four points in addition to nine rebounds and five steals.

Meanwhile, Dysart had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. Everything went their way against the Golden Hawks as they made off with a 51-29 victory.

Yuma is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.5 points per game. As for Dysart, their win bumped their record up to 8-9.

Yuma ended up a good deal behind Dysart in their previous meeting back in February of 2022, losing 51-33. Can Yuma avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.