The Ukiah Wildcats will take on the Healdsburg Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Ukiah will be strutting in after a victory while Healdsburg will be coming in after a loss.
Ukiah is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Wednesday as they easily beat Elsie Allen 77-47. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 46-19.
Ukiah's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jacob Lunceford led the charge by going 9 for 16 on his way to 22 points and eight boards. Lunceford continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaleo Olson, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds.
Ukiah was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3.7 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 7.9.
Meanwhile, Healdsburg played a tough game on Wednesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They lost 61-41 to Piner. The Greyhounds haven't had much luck with the Prospectors recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Ukiah will have to contain Thatcher Little as he made an impact in Healdsburg's last game. He posted 17 points and eight boards. Little continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Beckett Little, who earned eight points.
Ukiah's win ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-16. As for Healdsburg, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Ukiah has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 43.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Healdsburg struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything went Ukiah's way against Healdsburg in their previous meeting on January 8th, as Ukiah made off with a 66-42 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Healdsburg's Ethan Overdorf, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 13 boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Ukiah still be able to contain Overdorf? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
