The Miami Vandals won the last time they faced the Gilbert Classical Academy Spartans, and things went their way on Friday too. Miami rang in the new year with a 43-30 win over Gilbert Classical Academy. Given Miami's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while Gilbert Classical Academy is ranked 151st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Tamia Pietila continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a triple-double on 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 steals. The match was her 11th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Savannah Pietila, who scored six points along with eight steals.
Miami pushed their record up to 11-4 with that victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.4 points per game. As for Gilbert Classical Academy, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 7-7.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Miami will challenge Arete Prep at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Arete Prep has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. Gilbert Classical Academy and San Tan Charter will face off at 5:30 p.m. on January 8th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. San Tan Charter comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 16 points in their last four games, a trend the team is of course eager to reverse.
