The Central Valley Cougars will head out to face off against the Anselmo-Merna Coyotes at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Central Valley is coming into the game on the come-up as their season has now been buoyed by two straight victories. Everything went their way against Sumner-Eddyville-Miller on Tuesday as Central Valley made off with a 49-29 win. That's two games straight that the Cougars have won by exactly 20 points.
Bentleigh Dugan
| 02/18/25 vs Sumner-Eddyville-Miller | 23 |
| 02/14/25 @ Twin Loup | 21 |
| 02/13/25 @ Newman Grove/St. Edward | 23 |
Central Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Bentleigh Dugan led the charge by going 8-for-20 to rack up 23 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. Dugan's evening made it three games in a row in which she has scored at least 21 points. Lauryn Dusatko was another key player, dropping a double-double with ten points and 13 boards.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Anselmo-Merna's strategy against Elba on Tuesday. Anselmo-Merna put the hurt on Elba with a sharp 62-36 victory. The Coyotes have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 contests by 21 points or more this season.
Central Valley better keep an eye on Makenna Miller. She was instrumental in Anselmo-Merna's win, going 10-for-14 en route to 28 points in addition to seven steals and six rebounds. The dominant performance gave Miller a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Rhianen Myers, who posted five points along with seven assists and six steals.
Anselmo-Merna smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups.
Anselmo-Merna pushed their record up to 18-5 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.9 points over those games. As for Central Valley, their record now sits at 7-17.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Central Valley has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 29.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Anselmo-Merna struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Central Valley lost to Anselmo-Merna on the road by a decisive 52-37 margin in their previous meeting back in January. Can Central Valley avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
