Cambria Heights is 0-5 against River Valley since January of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Cambria Heights Highlanders will look to defend their home court against the River Valley Panthers at 7:15 p.m. Cambria Heights will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Pennsylvania Rankings (they are ranked 300th, while River Valley is ranked 103rd).
Last Monday, Cambria Heights lost to Penns Manor at home by a decisive 45-29 margin. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Cambria Heights has scored all season.
Sienna Kirsch put forth a good effort for the losing side as she dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. That was a full 34.5% of Cambria Heights' points, marking the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Gracey Vinglish was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with two steals and two blocks.
Meanwhile, River Valley can now show off seven landslide victories after their most recent contest on Monday. They took their contest on the road with ease, bagging a 62-24 win over Conemaugh Valley. With River Valley ahead 39-9 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
It was another big night for Ava Persichetti, who scored 23 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. That makes it four consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of River Valley's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alessia LaMantia, who scored six points along with three steals.
Cambria Heights now has a losing record at 5-6. As for River Valley, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 11-4.
Wednesday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Cambria Heights have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 37% of their threes per game. However, it's not like River Valley struggles in that department as they've only nailed 35.2% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Cambria Heights lost to River Valley at home by a decisive 57-43 margin when the teams last played back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Persichetti, who scored 25 points along with nine rebounds and six assists. Now that Cambria Heights knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
