Two dominant forwards in Nenah Brown and Madi Hatfield are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Rancho Solano Prep Mustangs will be playing in front of their home fans against the Anthem Prep Eagles at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Rancho Solano Prep will head into Monday's match on the come-up: they were handed a 20-point defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Monday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Dixon 32-30. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 142nd in Arizona, while the Rams are ranked 847th in California), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Rancho Solano Prep to victory, but perhaps none more so than Heidi Iancu, who posted 12 points.
Rancho Solano Prep 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 eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Anthem Prep sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 29-27 win over Red Rock back in December of 2024.
Anthem Prep's win came from a few key players Rancho Solano Prep will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Bella Hall, who had 11 points in addition to six rebounds and five steals. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Hatfield, who posted eight points along with 11 rebounds and three steals.
Anthem Prep's victory bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Rancho Solano Prep, their win bumped their record up to 9-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Rancho Solano Prep has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Anthem Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Rancho Solano Prep took a serious blow against Anthem Prep in their previous meeting back in December of 2015, falling 69-21. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Rancho Solano Prep was down 45-6.
