Rich hasn't had much luck against North Summit recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Rich Rebels will take on the North Summit Braves at 8:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Rich comes in on 11 and North Summit on 12.
Rich is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Tintic: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Rich blew Tintic out of the water with a 55-14 final score. Given the Rebels' advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 30th, while the Miners are ranked 113th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Rich found their leader in sophomore Molly Weston, who went 5 for 12 en route to 13 points and six steals. Weston is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for four straight games. Laci Mckinnon was another key player, putting up 11 points and five rebounds.
Rich smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 13 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely North Summit's strategy against Duchesne on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that North Summit blew Duchesne out of the water with a 65-26 final score. The Braves have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten games by 20 points or more this season.
Rich better keep an eye on Hayzlyn Murdock. She was instrumental in North Summit's win, dropping a double-double on 27 points and 17 boards. The dominant performance gave Murdock a new career-high in rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Ellie Stephens, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 19 boards.
North Summit pushed their record up to 17-1 with the win, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.1 points per game. As for Rich, their record is now 14-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Rich has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like North Summit struggles in that department as they've been averaging 43.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Rich came up short against North Summit when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 59-54. Thankfully for Rich, Chezlie Langston (who almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
