Shadow Ridge is 0-10 against the Monsoon since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Shadow Ridge Stallions will be playing in front of their home fans against the Valley Vista Monsoon at 5:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Tuesday, Shadow Ridge took their contest on the road with ease, bagging a 43-14 win over the Dragons. Given Shadow Ridge's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 94th, while the Dragons are ranked 249th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Shadow Ridge's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Danica Lindemann, who scored six points along with six rebounds and four steals. Aalayah Ramirez was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Meanwhile, Valley Vista waltzed into their match on Tuesday with five straight wins but they left with six. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Tolleson 86-23 at home.
Valley Vista's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Jocelyn Chavez, who scored 30 points along with five rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Chavez has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Emma Dasovich, who scored 24 points along with eight rebounds and three blocks.
Shadow Ridge has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 17-9 record this season. As for Valley Vista, their win was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 13-4.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Shadow Ridge have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Valley Vista struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Shadow Ridge suffered a grim 69-45 defeat to the Monsoon in their previous meeting two weeks ago. The matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Shadow Ridge was down 51-23.
