After two games on the road, Gilbert is heading back home. They will take on the Desert Vista Thunder at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Gilbert posted their biggest win since November 30, 2023 on Thursday. They claimed a resounding 72-25 victory over Corona del Sol on the road. Given Gilbert's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked third, while Corona del Sol is ranked 171st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Gilbert's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Morgan Evenson, who scored 14 points along with three steals. Another player making a difference was Caia Campbell, who scored seven points along with seven assists and seven steals.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up seven more assists than your opponent, a fact Desert Vista proved on Thursday. They blew past Highland 92-44 on the road. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 49-28.
Desert Vista's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Dylan Swindle, who scored 25 points along with two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Trinity Jones, who scored 16 points along with six steals.
Gilbert pushed their record up to 18-2 with that win, which was their seventh straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 78.7 points per game. As for Desert Vista, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's match: Gilbert have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 8.2 threes per game. It's a different story for Desert Vista, though, as they've been averaging only 5.5 threes per game. Given Gilbert's sizeable advantage in that area, Desert Vista will need to find a way to close that gap.
Gilbert was taken down by Desert Vista 81-54 when the teams last played back in February of 2023. Can Gilbert avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
