Two dominant guards in Adaia Lorenzo and Natalia Hernandez are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Fort Thomas Apaches will head out to face off against the Valley Lutheran Flames at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Valley Lutheran will be up against a hot Fort Thomas team: the squad just extended their winning streak to ten. Fort Thomas took their match on Wednesday with ease, bagging a 68-31 victory over Cicero Prep Academy. Given the Apaches' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 38th, while the Centurions are ranked 179th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Valley Lutheran over Superior in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Valley Lutheran blew Superior out of the water with a 43-7 final score. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 23-0.
Valley Lutheran's win came from a few key players Fort Thomas will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Hernandez, who posted five points along with ten steals and seven assists. Those seven assists gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Anika Winter, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 12 boards.
Valley Lutheran was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Superior only posted three assists.
Valley Lutheran pushed their record up to 11-5 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 17.5 points per game. As for Fort Thomas, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 17 of their last 18 games, which provided a nice bump to their 21-4 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Fort Thomas against Valley Lutheran in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, as the squad secured a 69-27 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Fort Thomas since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
