The Surprise Valley Hornets will head out on the road to face off against the Big Valley Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Surprise Valley is no doubt hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
Surprise Valley pushed their score all the way to 57 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Tulelake by a score of 59-57.
Despite the defeat, Surprise Valley had strong showings from Casey Grove, who scored 27 points, and Iina Nabahe-Henry, who scored 20 points. That was a full 47.4% of Surprise Valley's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Big Valley's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight loss. They took a 55-49 hit to the loss column at the hands of Happy Camp. That's two games in a row now that Big Valley has lost by exactly six points.
Despite the defeat, Big Valley got a solid performance out of Josue Barba, who scored 24 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Barba has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tzintzintli Moya, who scored ten points.
Surprise Valley has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-13 record this season. As for Big Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-12.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Surprise Valley have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Big Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Surprise Valley was able to grind out a solid win over Big Valley in their previous meeting back in January, winning 43-33. The rematch might be a little tougher for Surprise Valley since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
