The West Panthers will venture away from home to face off against the Alta Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. West knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 11 games -- so hopefully Alta likes a good challenge.
West will bounce into Friday's match after beating Brighton, who they had gone 0-3 against in their three prior meetings. West strolled past Brighton with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 63-44. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked second, while the Bengals are ranked 49th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/07/25 @ Brighton | 5 |
| 01/03/25 vs Olympus | 6 |
| 12/21/24 vs Rosary Academy | 8 |
| 12/20/24 vs Brentwood School | 5 |
| 12/19/24 @ Mission Hills | 8 |
West can attribute much of their success to Kylee Falatea, who dropped a double-double on 29 points and ten rebounds, and Fina Tuha, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 boards. Falatea has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 30 times she's played. Kaydence Falatea was another key player, putting up five points along with seven rebounds and four steals.
West smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 32 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 16 offensive boards in 11 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Alta waltzed into their game on Tuesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They enjoyed a cozy 62-47 win over the Eagles. The Hawks pushed the score to 51-28 by the end of the third, a deficit the Eagles cut but never quite recovered from.
West better keep an eye on Quincy Kegel. She was instrumental in Alta's win, going 11 of 23 on her way to 25 points in addition to seven boards and four steals. The dominant performance gave Kegel a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alia Baldassano, who posted 13 points along with six assists and five boards.
Alta is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a massive bump to their 8-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.4 points per game. As for West, their victory was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-0.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: West has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 59.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Alta struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for West against Alta in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as the team secured a 65-38 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for West since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
