Two dominant guards in J'Twane Mike and Bryce Riehl are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Palmer Terrors will be playing in front of their home fans against the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.
Palmer is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They really took it to Widefield for the full four quarters, racking up a 79-47 victory. Given the Terrors' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 75th, while the Gladiators are ranked 215th), the result on Wednesday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Emmanuel Gonzalez went supernova for Palmer, going 7 of 13 en route to 19 points and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Mike, who went 5 for 12 on his way to 17 points and five assists.
Meanwhile, Mesa Ridge waltzed into their game on Wednesday with eight straight wins... but they left with nine. They claimed a resounding 68-37 win over the Panthers. That 31 point margin sets a new team best for the Grizzlies this season.
Palmer better keep an eye on Zander Iwanski. He was instrumental in Mesa Ridge's win, going 9 of 16 en route to 18 points along with seven boards and seven steals. Those seven steals gave Iwanski a new career-high. Riehl was another key player, putting up 11 points and five rebounds.
Mesa Ridge smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Harrison only pulled down nine offensive boards.
Mesa Ridge pushed their record up to 9-1 with the victory, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.6 points per game. As for Palmer, they now have a winning record of 7-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Palmer has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 23.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Mesa Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Palmer came up short against Mesa Ridge in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 52-48. Can Palmer avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
