Basketball Game Preview: Moapa Valley Pirates vs. Rancho Rams

vs

Previous 3 Games

12/28/21 - Neutral	59-17 W
01/30/18 - Away	44-43 W
12/07/16 - Home	41-25 W

Moapa Valley has gone 3-0 against Rancho recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Moapa Valley Pirates will host the Rancho Rams at 5:00 p.m. Moapa Valley will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.

Last Tuesday, Moapa Valley humbled Pinecrest Academy Cadence with a 60-27 victory. The Pirates have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matches by 21 points or more this season.

It was another big night for Claire Cox, who went 9 of 19 on her way to 21 points in addition to eight boards and three steals. That makes it six consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Moapa Valley's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bekah Jensen, who posted eight points and five steals.

Moapa Valley was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pinecrest Academy Cadence only posted six assists.

Meanwhile, Rancho played a tough game on Wednesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against Sierra Vista, falling 63-38. The defeat continues a trend for the Rams in their matchups with the Mountain Lions: they've now lost five in a row.

Moapa Valley will have to contain Taylor Dagons as she made an impact in Rancho's last game. She had 19 points. The contest was Dagons' third in a row with at least ten points. Claudia Vargas-Arellano was another key player, putting up eight points.

Moapa Valley has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 15 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 16-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.0 points per game. As for Rancho, their loss dropped their record down to 11-11.

Everything came up roses for Moapa Valley against Rancho when the teams last played back in December of 2021, as the squad secured a 59-17 victory. Will Moapa Valley repeat their success, or does Rancho have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.