The Saguaro Sabercats will take on the ThunderRidge Grizzlies in a holiday battle at 4:30 p.m. on Monday at. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Saguaro sitting on six straight wins and ThunderRidge on four.
Saguaro has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matches by 25 points or more this season. They were the clear victor by a 67-42 margin over American Leadership Academy. Given Saguaro's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 26th, while American Leadership Academy is ranked 102nd), the result on Thursday wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Alexa Simpson, who scored 26 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. That makes it ten consecutive games in which she has scored at least 25% of Saguaro's points. Jada Mitchell was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, ThunderRidge beat Rocky Mountain 44-39 on Friday.
ThunderRidge got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ben Kayser-cochran out in front who scored 11 points along with three steals. That's the first time this season that Kayser-cochran grabbed two or more steals. Another player making a difference was Chloe Parker, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds.
Saguaro pushed their record up to 9-2 with that victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.0 points per game. As for ThunderRidge, their victory bumped their record up to 5-1.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Saguaro have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 32 rebounds per game. However, it's not like ThunderRidge struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 28.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
