Two dominant guards in Daniel Ortiz and Carter Brown are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Palo Verde Titans and the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks will compete for holiday cheer at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday. Palo Verde is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 71.9 points per game this season.
Palo Verde easily dispatched Bourgade Catholic on Thursday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. Palo Verde fell just short of Yuma Catholic by a score of 47-44 on Saturday. The Titans' loss signaled the end of their six-game winning streak.
Daniel Ortiz
| 12/14/24 @ Yuma Catholic | 2 |
| 12/12/24 @ Bourgade Catholic | 5 |
| 12/10/24 @ Apache Junction | 4 |
| 12/05/24 vs The Gregory School | 4 |
| 12/02/24 @ Tombstone | 4 |
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ortiz, who went 7 of 16 en route to 16 points. Ortiz is also crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Adrian Powers, who posted six points and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ironwood Ridge took their game on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 68-41 victory over Flowing Wells. The Nighthawks pushed the score to 66-25 by the end of the third, a deficit the Caballeros cut but never quite recovered from.
Palo Verde better keep an eye on Brown. He was instrumental in Ironwood Ridge's win, putting up 11 points and four steals. That's the most steals Brown has posted since back in January. The team also got some help courtesy of Lucas Anderson, who had 12 points.
Ironwood Ridge is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.4 points per game. As for Palo Verde, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-2.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Palo Verde and Ironwood Ridge are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Palo Verde hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 71.9 points per game. However, it's not like Ironwood Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 57.9 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Palo Verde beat Ironwood Ridge 62-50 when the teams last played back in November of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Palo Verde since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
