The River Valley Dust Devils and the Yuma Catholic Shamrocks will face off at 5:30 p.m. on January 17th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. River Valley will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Arizona Rankings (they are ranked 291st, while Yuma Catholic is ranked 145th).
River Valley's and Tonopah Valley's contest on Friday was close at halftime, but River Valley turned on the heat in the second half with 24 points. River Valley was the clear victor by a 36-15 margin over Tonopah Valley. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest victory River Valley has managed all season.
River Valley found their leader in underclassman Veronica Galvez, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 13 steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Avery Waldrip, who scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Yuma Catholic was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Friday as they fell 49-44 to American Leadership Academy - West Foothills.
River Valley's win ended a 14-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-14. As for Yuma Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 9-8.
River Valley was dealt a bruising 69-21 defeat at the hands of Yuma Catholic in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. The matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point River Valley was down 48-12.
