The Dove Creek Bulldogs will take on the Vail Mountain Gore Rangers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Dove Creek is headed into Friday's game hungry for a win as their strong season has now been derailed by two straight defeats. They were a single point away from ending the streak, but they lost a 48-47 heartbreaker at the hands of Ridgway.
Dove Creek's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Trevan Ivie, who dropped a double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds, and Sheldon Gardner, who shot 4-for-7 from beyond the arc and dropped a double-double with 16 points and 15 boards. Jonathan Davis also deserves some recognition as he posted his first assists of the season.
Even though they lost, Dove Creek was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. This was only their first loss (out of 13 games) when they've passed the ball that well.
Meanwhile, Vail Mountain came tearing into back in February's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.3 points), and they left with even more momentum. They really took it to the Mustangs for the full four quarters, racking up a 54-20 win. The Gore Rangers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 21 points or more this season.
Vail Mountain's win came from a few key players Dove Creek will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Charlie Vidal, who went 6-for-8 to rack up 12 points and seven rebounds. He is also on a roll when it comes to shooting accuracy, as he's posted one of at least 50% in the last eight games he's played. Another player making a difference was Hunter Iverson, who posted 12 points.
Dove Creek's defeat dropped their record down to 16-7. As for Vail Mountain, their victory bumped their record up to 12-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Dove Creek has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 37 boards per game. However, it's not like Vail Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
