Two dominant guards in Natalia Hernandez and Adaia Lorenzo are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Valley Lutheran Flames will be playing in front of their home fans against the Fort Thomas Apaches at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Fort Thomas will be up against a hot Valley Lutheran squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Valley Lutheran claimed a resounding 43-7 win over Superior. With the Flames ahead 23-0 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Natalia Hernandez
| 01/21/25 @ Superior | 7 |
| 12/15/23 @ Superior | 5 |
| 01/12/24 vs Cicero Prep Academy | 4 |
| 01/17/25 vs San Manuel | 4 |
| 01/03/24 @ Cicero Prep Academy | 3 |
Valley Lutheran got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Hernandez out in front who posted five points along with ten steals and seven assists. Those seven assists gave Hernandez a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Anika Winter, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 12 boards.
Hernandez wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Valley Lutheran was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Superior only posted three assists.
Meanwhile, Fort Thomas had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.3 points) and they went ahead and made it ten on Wednesday. They blew past the Centurions, posting a 68-31 win. Given the Apaches' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 38th, while the Centurions are ranked 179th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Fort Thomas is also on a roll lately: they've won 17 of their last 18 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 21-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.8 points per game. As for Valley Lutheran, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-5.
Valley Lutheran took a serious blow against Fort Thomas when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 69-27. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Fort Thomas' Kaylee Benally, who went 6 of 11 en route to 18 points in addition to eight rebounds and three steals. Now that Valley Lutheran knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
