Highland is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Gilbert is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Highland Hawks will take on the Gilbert Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Highland posted their biggest victory since December 11, 2023 on Friday. They breezed by Queen Creek at home to the tune of 52-21. Given Highland's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 87th, while Queen Creek is ranked 227th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Madilyn Gewirtz, who scored 14 points along with five rebounds and five steals. She has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. Another player making a difference was Addison Riggs, who scored nine points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Gilbert stacked a ninth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 82-60 margin over Desert Ridge. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Gilbert found their leader in underclassman Caia Campbell, who scored 19 points along with seven assists and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Aspen McClees, who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds.
Highland has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-7 record this season. As for Gilbert, their win bumped their record up to 15-2.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's matchup: Highland have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 4.4 threes per game. It's a different story for Gilbert, though, as they've been averaging only 8.4 threes per game. Given Highland's sizeable advantage in that area, Gilbert will need to find a way to close that gap.
Highland skirted past Gilbert 59-56 in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. Will Highland repeat their success, or does Gilbert have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
