Deer River is 0-10 against Mountain Iron-Buhl since March of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Deer River Warriors will look to defend their home court against the Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers at 5:45 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Deer River posted their biggest win since December 18, 2023 on Tuesday. They took their match at home with ease, bagging a 33-0 victory over South Ridge. The victory was all the more spectacular given Deer River's disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 238th, while South Ridge is ranked 99th).
Meanwhile, Mountain Iron-Buhl came tearing into Monday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 33.5 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past Cass Lake-Bena 88-64. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Jordan Zubich continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and dropping a double-double on 33 points and ten assists. She hasn't dropped below 15points for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Hali Savela, who scored 19 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Deer River has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-7 record this season. As for Mountain Iron-Buhl, they pushed their record up to 15-2 with that win, which was their 18th straight on the road.
Deer River was taken down by Mountain Iron-Buhl 85-39 in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. Thankfully for Deer River, Sage Ganyo (who scored 18 points along with six rebounds and five assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
