Valley is 10-0 against Hedley since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Valley Patriots will be staying on the road to face off against the Hedley Owls at 6:00 p.m. on February 9th. Valley's defense has only allowed 29.8 points per game this season, so Hedley's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Valley put the finishing touches on their 18th blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 54-16 win over Groom. Given Valley's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 92nd, while Groom is ranked 1154th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Trinity Schlueter and Reese Cruse were among the main playmakers for Valley as the former scored 18 points along with three steals and the latter almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine rebounds. Schlueter has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 12 times she's played. Laney Edwards was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Hedley's recent rough patch got a bit rougher last Tuesday after their 12th straight defeat. They took a serious blow against Claude, falling 62-9. Hedley has not had much luck with Claude recently, as the team's come up short the last eight times they've met.
Valley pushed their record up to 30-2 with that victory, which was their eighth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.1 points per game. As for Hedley, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost 16 of their last 17 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-21 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Valley against Hedley in their previous matchup back in January as the squad secured a 59-25 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Valley since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
