The Round Valley Elks will challenge the Northland Prep Academy Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The timing isn't great for Round Valley: they have been struggling with four straight losses at home, while Northland Prep Academy has snatched up five consecutive wins on the road.
Having struggled with seven losses in a row, Round Valley turned things around against Hopi on Tuesday. They strolled past the Bruins with points to spare, taking the game 56-42.
Meanwhile, Northland Prep Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over Kingman Academy on Wednesday, taking the game 83-70.
Northland Prep Academy's win came from a few key players Round Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jaden Joiner, who went 8 of 17 on his way to 25 points. He is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Simon Pickup, who went 8 for 9 en route to 21 points.
Northland Prep Academy has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a massive bump to their 15-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points per game. As for Round Valley, their win ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-18.
Round Valley didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Northland Prep Academy in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 65-59 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Joiner, who went 11 of 22 on his way to 28 points and four steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Round Valley still be able to contain Joiner? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
