Basketball Game Preview: Fort Thomas Apaches vs. Round Valley Elks

The Fort Thomas Apaches and the Round Valley Elks will face off at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Fort Thomas is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.7 points per game this season.

Fort Thomas is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Holbrook just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Friday. They fell 63-54 to the Roadrunners.

Despite the loss, Fort Thomas got top-tier performance from Adaia Lorenzo, who went 8 of 15 en route to 20 points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance gave Lorenzo a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Makayla Chapman, who posted 12 points and five rebounds.

Even though they lost, Fort Thomas smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 19 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Round Valley's game on Friday was all tied up 18-18 at the half, but sadly for them it didn't stay that way. They took a 43-32 hit to the loss column at the hands of San Carlos.

Despite the defeat, Round Valley saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Addison Poston dropped a double-double on 21 points and 14 boards. Those 14 rebounds set a new season-high mark for Poston. Another player making a difference was Jolie Bigelow, who had nine points and five rebounds.

Round Valley's loss dropped their record down to 7-4. As for Fort Thomas, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-3.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Fort Thomas has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 36.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Round Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.6 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Fort Thomas strolled past Round Valley in their previous matchup back in December of 2022 by a score of 49-33. Will Fort Thomas repeat their success, or does Round Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.