The Big Valley Cardinals will be playing at home against the Surprise Valley Hornets at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses apiece.
Last Friday, Big Valley was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 55-49 to Happy Camp. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Big Valley in their matchups with Happy Camp: they've now lost four in a row.
The losing side was boosted by Josue Barba, who scored 24 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Tzintzintli Moya, who scored ten points.
Meanwhile, Surprise Valley pushed their score all the way to 57 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Tulelake by a score of 59-57.
Despite the loss, Surprise Valley had strong showings from Casey Grove, who scored 27 points, and Iina Nabahe-Henry, who scored 20 points. That was a full 47.4% of Surprise Valley's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Big Valley has been struggling recently as they've lost nine of their last ten games, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-12 record this season. As for Surprise Valley, they dropped their record down to 8-13 with that loss, which was their fourth straight on the road.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Big Valley have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Surprise Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.1 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Big Valley came up short against Surprise Valley when the teams last played back in January, falling 43-33. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Grove, who scored 23 points along with eight rebounds and five steals. Now that Big Valley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
