The ThunderRidge Grizzlies will face off against the Rock Canyon Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
ThunderRidge took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They blew past Castle View 82-57. Given the Grizzlies' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Sabercats are ranked 113th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/29/25 vs Castle View | 22 |
| 12/13/24 vs Denver East | 20 |
| 12/11/24 vs Rocky Mountain | 17 |
| 12/03/24 @ Legacy | 17 |
| 12/05/24 vs Northfield | 13 |
ThunderRidge can attribute much of their success to Kael Carney, who posted 22 points, and Drew Paine, who put up 24 points. Those 22 points gave Carney a new career-high. Ulysses Brown was another key player, putting up eight points.
Meanwhile, Rock Canyon beat Heritage 67-58 on Tuesday.
ThunderRidge better keep an eye on Kasen Lehman. He was instrumental in Rock Canyon's win, going 11 of 20 on his way to 29 points. The match was Lehman's seventh in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Kai Valentine, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 14 boards.
Rock Canyon has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.3 points per game. As for ThunderRidge, their win bumped their record up to 11-5.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as ThunderRidge and Rock Canyon are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. ThunderRidge hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 67.5 points per game. However, it's not like Rock Canyon struggles in that department as they've been averaging 61.8 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
ThunderRidge came out on top in a nail-biter against Rock Canyon in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, sneaking past 62-60. Will ThunderRidge repeat their success, or does Rock Canyon have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
