Sharyland hasn't had much luck against Pioneer recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Sharyland Rattlers will be home for the holidays to greet the Pioneer Diamondbacks at 2:30 p.m. Sharyland has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.
Sharyland is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Sharyland blew Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest out of the water with a 64-13 final score. The game marked the Rattlers' most dominant victory of the season.
| 12/17/24 @ Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest | 2 |
| 12/13/24 @ Rowe | 2 |
| 12/06/24 vs McAllen | 4 |
Sharyland found their leader in freshman Alyssa Ramirez, who went 6 of 12 on her way to 14 points. Ramirez has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Jayleen Berlanga, who posted nine points and five rebounds.
Sharyland smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 26 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in January.
Meanwhile, Pioneer had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They blew past the Bulldogs 54-28. The Diamondbacks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten contests by 21 points or more this season.
Pioneer found their leader in sophomore Ebonie Chatman, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten rebounds. Chatman also set a new season-high mark in steals with eight. Kassandra Garcia was another key player, putting up ten points along with seven boards and six assists.
Sharyland's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-7. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.3 points per game. As for Pioneer, they are on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-9 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Sharyland has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 31.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Pioneer struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Sharyland was taken down by Pioneer 44-13 when the teams last played back in February. Can Sharyland avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
