The Gunnison Valley Bulldogs will square off against the Grand County Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
Gunnison Valley is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering North Sanpete just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They fell 51-40 to the Hawks.
Bryler Blackburn
| 12/27/24 @ North Sanpete | 6 |
| 12/20/24 @ Ben Lomond | 3 |
| 12/17/24 vs Providence Hall | 2 |
| 12/16/24 vs Waterford | 2 |
Gunnison Valley's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Bryler Blackburn, who posted eight points and six steals, and Linsi Hansen, who put up eight points and three steals. Blackburn has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played.
Meanwhile, Grand County was beaten by Tabiona 60-33 last Saturday. While losing is never fun, the Red Devils can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 85th, while the Tigers are ranked 25th).
Gunnison Valley will have to contain Trinity Bryant as she made an impact in Grand County's last game. She went 6 of 14 on her way to 17 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. Bryant is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games.
Grand County's loss dropped their record down to 5-5. As for Gunnison Valley, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Gunnison Valley has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 37.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Grand County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Gunnison Valley might still be hurting after the 54-34 loss they got from Grand County when the teams last played back in January. Thankfully for Gunnison Valley, Cadence Kasprick (who almost dropped a double-double on 20 points and nine steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
