After both having extra time off, the Pine Hill Warriors and the East Mountain Timberwolves will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. East Mountain took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Pine Hill, who comes in off a win.
Pine Hill will head into Saturday's contest on the come-up: they were handed a 30-point loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene last Saturday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Pinon, sneaking past 44-42.
| 12/21/24 @ Pinon | 8 |
| 12/20/24 @ Chinle | 6 |
| 12/19/24 @ Gila Ridge | 6 |
Nevaeh Natan was nothing short of spectacular: she went 7 for 17 on her way to 21 points in addition to eight rebounds and eight steals. She has been hot recently, having posted six or more steals the last three times she's played.
Meanwhile, East Mountain played a tough match two weeks ago in which they were outscored in every quarter. They might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting Tucumcari an easy 59-33 win. The Timberwolves were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 40-16.
Pine Hill will have to keep a close watch on Jodie Tillman and Emee Naylor, a pair of players who had a big impact on East Mountain's prior game. Tillman dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 boards, while Naylor posted six points. What's more, Naylor also racked up two blocks, the most she's had since back in January. Another player making a difference was Evelyn Kannolt, who put up eight points and six steals.
East Mountain's defeat was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Pine Hill, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pine Hill has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 20.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like East Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
