Mackay is on a seven-game streak of home wins, while Challis is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Mackay Miners will welcome the Challis Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Mackay is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing American Heritage: they outscored them in every quarter. Mackay blew past American Heritage 46-25 on Tuesday.
Kaizer Summers continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 8 of 16 en route to 22 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals. That makes it ten consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Mackay's points. Cooper Holt was another key player, putting up eight points and 11 boards.
Mackay smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Challis had just enough and edged Grace Lutheran out 52-49 on Tuesday.
Challis' win came from a few key players Mackay will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ramey Rhoades, who posted 15 points and five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Brayden Ollar, who earned 13 points and seven boards.
Mackay is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.3 points per game. As for Challis, they now have a winning record of 9-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Mackay has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 35.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Challis struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Mackay strolled past Challis in their previous matchup back in December of 2024 by a score of 64-48. Does Mackay have another victory up their sleeve, or will Challis turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
