Ralston Valley is 9-1 against the Wildcats since February of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Ralston Valley Mustangs will head out on the road to challenge the Arvada West Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Ralston Valley will be strutting in after a victory while the Wildcats will be coming in after a loss.
Even though Columbine scored an imposing 59 points on Wednesday, Ralston Valley still came out on top. Ralston Valley snuck past the Rebels with a 64-59 victory. The win was just what Ralston Valley needed coming off of a 54-28 loss in their prior matchup.
Ralston Valley relied on the efforts of Santana Sabus, who scored 20 points along with two steals, and Sammi Madden, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds and four steals. Sabus hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Karsyn Kline, who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, Arvada West came up short against the Eagles on Wednesday and fell 61-49. While losing is never fun, Arvada West can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 59th, while the Eagles are ranked fourth).
Despite their defeat, Arvada West saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Saylor Swanson, who scored ten points along with six assists and five rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Malorie Byrne was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with two blocks.
Ralston Valley has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season. As for Arvada West, their loss dropped their record down to 11-7.
Monday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Sabus and Swanson. Sabus has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 18.9 points, 2.5 steals, and 6.5 rebounds. For her part, Swanson has averaged 13.2 points, 2.1 steals, and 5.3 rebounds.
Ralston Valley didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against the Wildcats in their previous matchup back in January, but they still walked away with a 48-44 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Ralston Valley since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
