The North Sanpete Hawks and the Gunnison Valley Bulldogs will round out the year against one another at at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
North Sanpete is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 55 points on Tuesday, they were much more limited against Richfield on Thursday. They were dealt a 53-24 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats. The Hawks were down 49-17 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Evie Kendall was North Sanpete's leading scorer, having posted six points.
Meanwhile, Gunnison Valley won against Providence Hall on Tuesday with 58 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Gunnison Valley blew past Ben Lomond 58-38. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 20 points or more this season.
Gunnison Valley's win came from a few key players North Sanpete will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Rylee Bartholomew, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 15 rebounds. She is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last six games she's played. Another player making a difference was Autumn Anderson, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 17 boards.
Gunnison Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 27 offensive rebounds. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in three consecutive games.
Gunnison Valley's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-2. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.3 points per game. As for North Sanpete, their loss dropped their record down to 3-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: North Sanpete has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Gunnison Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 38.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
North Sanpete beat Gunnison Valley 46-39 in their previous meeting back in November of 2022. Will North Sanpete repeat their success, or does Gunnison Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
