The Tooele Buffaloes just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Hunter Wolverines at 1:45 p.m. on Friday. Tooele has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Tooele turned things around against Jordan on Thursday. They walked away with a 47-38 win over the Beetdiggers.
Tooele's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kennedy Searle, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which Searle has scored at least a third of Tooele's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Halle Hogan, who posted 12 points.
Meanwhile, Hunter was not able to break out of their rough patch two weeks ago as the team picked up their third straight loss. They lost to Syracuse on the road by a 58-42 margin. While losing is never fun, the Wolverines can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 94th, while the Titans are ranked 15th).
Despite the defeat, Hunter saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Grace Gallagher dropped a double-double on 25 points and 14 boards. Gallagher has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more blocks the last 25 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Destini Perez, who had nine points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Hunter smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in four consecutive matches.
Hunter's loss dropped their record down to 3-9. As for Tooele, their victory bumped their record up to 8-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Tooele has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Hunter struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.8 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Tooele might still be hurting after the 55-30 defeat they got from Hunter in their previous matchup back in November of 2023. Thankfully for Tooele, Kalysa Ng (who earned 15 points along with seven steals and five assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
