Basketball Game Preview: Estrella Foothills Wolves vs. Deer Valley Skyhawks

Estrella Foothills is 1-7 against Deer Valley since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. Both will face off at 7:00 p.m. without much rest having both just played. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

On Thursday, Estrella Foothills needed a bit of extra time to put away Peoria. They slipped by the Panthers 71-70. The victory almost wasn't to be: the Wolves were down 39-23 in the second quarter.

Ryan Hitchcock was nothing short of spectacular: he went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc on his way to 23 points and four steals. That's the most points he has posted since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Brayden Chojnowski, who went 5 of 7 en route to 10 points.

Meanwhile, Deer Valley had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Thursday. They enjoyed a cozy 63-44 win over the Knights. Given the Skyhawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 24th, while the Knights are ranked 111th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Deer Valley is also on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.5 points per game. As for Estrella Foothills, their victory bumped their record up to 9-12.

Estrella Foothills was taken down by Deer Valley 70-29 in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Estrella Foothills was down 44-19.