Two dominant guards in Addy Horsley and Kya Newton are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Bingham Miners will challenge the Mountain Ridge Sentinels at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Bingham is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Utah's top teams: Copper Hills, who was ranked fifth at the time (Bingham was ranked 12th). Bingham took a 53-44 hit to the loss column at the hands of Copper Hills on Thursday. The defeat continues a trend for the Miners in their matchups with the Grizzlies: they've now lost five in a row.
The losing side was boosted by Lena Casperson, who went 5 of 10 en route to 12 points. Evalyn Roberts was another key player, putting up five points and three steals.
Meanwhile, Mountain Ridge had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They took down the Silverwolves 56-40. 56 seems to be a good number for the Sentinels as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
Bingham better focus on containing Kaylee Montgomery and Jessica Maynard as the pair were huge in Mountain Ridge's win. Montgomery went 6 for 10 on her way to 17 points and three steals, while Maynard dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Montgomery is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Newton, who posted eight points.
Mountain Ridge smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in three consecutive matches.
Mountain Ridge pushed their record up to 11-5 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.3 points per game. As for Bingham, their loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 11-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Bingham has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Mountain Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Bingham couldn't quite finish off Mountain Ridge in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 and fell 58-55. Can Bingham avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
