Valentine hasn't had much luck against Gordon-Rushville recently, but that could start to change on Friday. Valentine will head out to take on the Gordon-Rushville Mustangs. Valentine is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57.1 points per game this season.
Valentine is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing North Central: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Valentine blew North Central out of the water with a 74-30 final score. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-15.
Andon Olson
| 02/13/25 vs North Central | 23 |
| 02/08/25 vs Chadron | 21 |
| 02/07/25 @ Gothenburg | 22 |
It was another big night for Andon Olson, who went 9-for-19 on his way to 23 points along with five boards and five steals. His evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least 21 points. Another player making a difference was Dominic Beebout, who went 6-for-12 to rack up 15 points and five assists.
Valentine was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 76-31, which was the final score in Gordon-Rushville's tilt against Bridgeport on Friday. The Mustangs haven't had much luck with the Bulldogs recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.
Valentine will have to keep a close watch on Daniel Martins and Kannon Leeper, a pair of players who had a big impact on Gordon-Rushville's prior game. Martins went 5-for-9 en route to 13 points, while Leeper posted five points. Leeper has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times he's played.
Gordon-Rushville's defeat dropped their record down to 6-15. As for Valentine, they now have a winning record of 11-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Valentine has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Gordon-Rushville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.6 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Valentine lost to Gordon-Rushville on the road by a decisive 46-30 margin when the teams last played back in February of 2023. Can Valentine avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
