The Round Valley Elks and the Fort Thomas Apaches will face off at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Round Valley is likely headed into the matchup with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against San Carlos on Friday. Round Valley fell 43-32 to San Carlos.
| 12/13/24 @ San Carlos | 21 |
| 12/12/24 vs Holbrook | 17 |
| 12/12/24 vs Kingman | 14 |
| 12/07/24 vs Pima | 10 |
| 12/05/24 vs Madison Highland Prep | 7 |
Despite the loss, Round Valley saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Addison Poston dropped a double-double on 21 points and 14 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Poston has scored all season. Jolie Bigelow was another key player, putting up nine points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Round Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 11 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Fort Thomas unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Friday. They took a 63-54 hit to the loss column at the hands of Holbrook.
Round Valley will have to contain Adaia Lorenzo as she made an impact in Fort Thomas' last game. She went 8 of 15 on her way to 20 points and eight rebounds. Those 20 points gave Lorenzo a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Makayla Chapman, who posted 12 points and five rebounds.
Round Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 7-4. As for Fort Thomas, their loss dropped their record down to 4-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Round Valley has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 37.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Fort Thomas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Round Valley lost to Fort Thomas on the road by a decisive 49-33 margin in their previous matchup back in December of 2022. Thankfully for Round Valley, Tyesha Wilson (who went 8 of 17 on her way to 21 points and seven boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
