Basketball Game Preview: Grand Valley Cardinals vs. Coal Ridge Titans

Grand Valley hasn't had much luck against Coal Ridge recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Grand Valley Cardinals will look to defend their home court against the Coal Ridge Titans at 7:00 p.m. Grand Valley is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.6 points per game this season.

Last Tuesday, Grand Valley was able to grind out a solid victory over North Fork, taking the game 49-39.

Daniel Gronewoller continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, putting up eight points and 11 rebounds. He has been hot recently, having posted nine or more boards the last four times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Trey Teter, who posted eight points and ten rebounds.

Grand Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 16 offensive rebounds in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Coal Ridge, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They secured a 61-56 W over Basalt on Friday.

Coal Ridge's win came from a few key players Grand Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Diego Gamez, who earned 15 points and three steals. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in assists (four). Another player making a difference was Gio Ervin, who went 6 of 7 on his way to 12 points.

Coal Ridge pushed their record up to 6-4 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.0 points per game. As for Grand Valley, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 4-8 record this season.

Grand Valley took a serious blow against Coal Ridge when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 57-21. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Grand Valley was down 30-8.