The North Fork Miners's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their sixth straight loss. They were the victim of a tough 57-34 loss at the hands of Plateau Valley. North Fork was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Plateau Valley apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in February of 2023.
North Fork's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Alyssa Lovelace, who scored seven points along with two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Piper Smith, who scored eight points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Plateau Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Emaline Ealey, who scored 15 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Ealey has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last six times she's played. Another player making a difference was Meloni Miller, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 20 rebounds.
North Fork has not been sharp recently as the team has lost seven of their last eight matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-11 record this season. As for Plateau Valley, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 12-3.
North Fork will be playing in front of their home fans against Grand Valley at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. North Fork will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Colorado Rankings (they are ranked 239th, while Grand Valley is ranked 43rd). As for Plateau Valley, they will head out on the road to take on Soroco at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hopefully Plateau Valley is not getting complacent considering they own a much higher rank in Colorado (they are ranked 128th, while Soroco is ranked 275th).
