The Healdsburg Greyhounds will square off against the Ukiah Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Healdsburg is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.1 points per game this season.
Healdsburg is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Piner on Wednesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Healdsburg came up short against Piner, falling 61-41. The Greyhounds haven't had much luck with the Prospectors recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Thatcher Little put forth a good effort for the losing side as he posted 17 points and eight boards. He is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Beckett Little, who had eight points.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Ukiah). They blew past Elsie Allen 77-47 on Wednesday. With the Wildcats ahead 46-19 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Ukiah's win came from a few key players Healdsburg will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jacob Lunceford, who went 9 of 16 on his way to 22 points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in boards. Another player making a difference was Kaleo Olson, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds.
Ukiah was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3.7 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matchups they've averaged 7.9.
Healdsburg's defeat dropped their record down to 8-12. As for Ukiah, their win ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-16.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Healdsburg has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Ukiah struggles in that department as they've been averaging 43.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Healdsburg suffered a grim 66-42 defeat to Ukiah in their previous meeting on January 8th. Will Healdsburg have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
