Hayden has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Valley Lutheran Flames at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 64-10, which was the final score in Hayden's tilt against Joseph City on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Hayden can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 201st, while Joseph City is ranked 32nd).
Despite the defeat, Hayden saw an underclassman step up: Trinity Collier scored 4 points along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Collier scored a full 40% of Hayden's points, the second time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Rya Lagunas was another key contributor, scoring 0 points along with 6 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Meanwhile, Valley Lutheran was beaten by Fort Thomas 69-27 on Tuesday. Valley Lutheran has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Hayden has yet to win a matchup at home this season, leaving them with a 0-9 record. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 13.3 points per game. As for Valley Lutheran, they now have a losing record at 1-2.
Hayden was taken down by Valley Lutheran 42-10 when the teams last played back in December of 2022. Can Hayden avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
