The Ironwood Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the Apollo Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Ironwood knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past 11 games -- so hopefully Apollo likes a good challenge.
Last Tuesday, Ironwood faced Casteel in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Ironwood came out on top against Casteel by a score of 62-54.
Noah Gifft was his usual excellent self, going 7 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 30 points and 0 assists. The contest was his 11th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Jadden Jones, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Apollo on the road against Kellis on Monday as the team secured a 76-47 victory. Given Apollo's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while Kellis is ranked 217th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Apollo got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Elijah White out in front who scored 18 points. DeQuean Bryant was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
Ironwood has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season. As for Apollo, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-2.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Ironwood hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 77.5 points per game. It's a different story for Apollo, though, as they've been averaging only 63.1 points per game. The only thing between Ironwood and another offensive beatdown is Apollo. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Everything went Ironwood's way against Apollo in their previous meeting back in February as Ironwood made off with a 89-67 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Ironwood since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
