Basketball Game Preview: Fountain Hills Falcons vs. Miami Vandals

By Team Reports Jan 5, 2025, 10:10pm

Basketball Preview: Fountain Hills Falcons vs. Miami Vandals

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Fountain Hills is on a 12-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Miami is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Fountain Hills Falcons will host the Miami Vandals at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Fountain Hills' defense has only allowed 30 points per game this season, so Miami's offense will have their work cut out for them.

Fountain Hills is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Highland Prep: they outscored them in every quarter. Everything went Fountain Hills' way against Highland Prep back in December of 2024 as Fountain Hills made off with a 45-19 win. The Falcons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 22 points or more this season.

Seilah Smith

Steals

12/19/24 vs Highland Prep7
12/16/23 vs Varsity Opponent7
01/23/24 vs Chino Valley6
12/13/23 vs Scottsdale Christian Academy6
12/07/23 @ San Tan Foothills6

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Fountain Hills to victory, but perhaps none more so than Seilah Smith, who posted 11 points along with eight boards and seven steals. That's the most steals Smith has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Saedee Smith, who put up 12 points and seven steals.

Meanwhile, Miami narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Casteel 81-78. Given the Vandals' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked ninth, while the Colts are ranked 62nd), the result on Saturday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Miami's win came from a few key players Fountain Hills will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tamia Pietila, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 11 assists. She has been hot for a while, having also posted three or more steals the last 15 times she's played. Demetria Dosela was another key player, dropping a double-double on 24 points and ten boards.

Fountain Hills is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 27.4 points. As for Miami, their win bumped their record up to 13-1.

Monday's match will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Smith and Pietila. Smith has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 11.4 points, 2 steals, and 2.3 assists. For her part, Pietila has averaged 22.7 points, 7.2 steals, and 5.9 assists.

Fountain Hills might still be hurting after the 62-37 loss they got from Miami in their previous meeting back in November of 2024. Will Fountain Hills have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps