The Empire Ravens will square off against the Tombstone Yellow Jackets at 11:20 a.m. on Thursday. Empire is coming into the contest on a five-game losing streak.
Last Monday, Empire was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 36-30 to Desert View.
Despite the defeat, Empire had strong showings from TALISSA DURAN, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 12 rebounds, and HALEY DORRIS, who scored seven points along with eight steals. DURAN set a new season high mark in blocks with three.
Even though they lost, Empire were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Tombstone was the victim of a tough 56-33 defeat at the hands of Pima on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Tombstone can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 96th, while Pima is ranked 28th).
Empire's defeat was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 1-5. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 21.3 points per game. As for Tombstone, their loss dropped their record down to 3-3.
Empire came up short against Tombstone when the teams last played back in December of 2021, falling 35-30. Can Empire avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
