Preview: Pleasant Grove Vikings vs. Maple Mountain Golden Eagles
Pleasant Grove has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Maple Mountain Golden Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Utah (Pleasant Grove is ranked 38th, while Maple Mountain is ranked 27th).
Last Thursday, Pleasant Grove beat Springville 47-40.
Amber Cook and Sarah Newman were among the main playmakers for Pleasant Grove as the former scored 15 points along with 5 rebounds and 4 steals and the latter dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds. The contest was Cook's third in a row with at least ten points. Tabi Clark was another key contributor, scoring 7 points.
Meanwhile, Maple Mountain was able to grind out a solid win over Murray on Thursday, taking the game 51-44. The win made it back-to-back wins for Maple Mountain.
Maple Mountain's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Kylee Gause, who scored 12 points along with 7 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Ashlynn Lainhart, who scored 13 points along with 6 rebounds and 4 steals.
Pleasant Grove's victory lifted them to 4-2 while Springville's defeat dropped them down to 1-5.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Pleasant Grove have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 33.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Maple Mountain struggles in that department as they've been even better at 38.3 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Pleasant Grove strolled past Maple Mountain when the teams last played back in December of 2021 by a score of 65-50. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pleasant Grove since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
