The Paradise Honors Panthers and the Thunderbird Titans will face off at 7:00 p.m. on Friday without much rest having both just played. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Paradise Honors sitting on nine straight wins and Thunderbird on three.
On Thursday, Paradise Honors humbled Moon Valley with a 52-15 victory. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 17 matchups by 23 points or more this season.
| 01/30/25 @ Moon Valley | 8 |
| 01/28/25 @ Shadow Mountain | 13 |
| 01/23/25 vs Greenway | 8 |
| 01/21/25 @ Goldwater | 8 |
| 01/15/25 @ Thunderbird | 7 |
Morgan Van Dyke continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 8 of 12 on her way to 17 points in addition to eight steals and six rebounds. Van Dyke is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Genesis Kanae was another key player, putting up seven points along with five boards and four steals.
Paradise Honors smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in 11 consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Thunderbird's strategy against Goldwater on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Thunderbird blew Goldwater out of the water with a 57-20 final score. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Titans had established a 34 point advantage.
Paradise Honors better focus on containing Roscella Tsosie and Isabella Illingworth as the pair were huge in Thunderbird's win. Tsosie went 7 for 12 en route to 16 points and six steals, while Illingworth dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Tsosie a new career-high in boards (four). Another player making a difference was Parker Stanley, who posted eight points.
Paradise Honors pushed their record up to 18-4 with the victory, which was their eighth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 17.1 points per game. As for Thunderbird, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 12-10.
Everything came up roses for Paradise Honors against Thunderbird in their previous meeting on January 15th, as the team secured a 60-12 victory. Will Paradise Honors repeat their success, or does Thunderbird have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
