The Box Elder Bees will be playing in front of their home fans against the Northridge Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Box Elder sitting on six straight wins and Northridge on four.
Last Friday, Box Elder's game was all tied up 23-23 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They slipped by Roy 45-44. Given Box Elder's advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 20th, while Roy is ranked 87th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Box Elder's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Olivia Godfrey, who scored 16 points along with five steals. Godfrey is trending in the right direction, as she's improved her point production for three games straight. Another player making a difference was Madi Thurgood, who scored eight points along with nine rebounds and six steals.
Meanwhile, with a playoff game on the line, Northridge rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They walked away with a 46-34 win over the Cougars.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Northridge to victory, but perhaps none more so than Karlee Mayfield, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 13 rebounds. Mayfield has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last ten times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Mae Stevenson, who scored 12 points.
Box Elder is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 18-5 record this season. As for Northridge, they pushed their record up to 13-11 with that win, which was their third straight at home.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Box Elder have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Northridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Box Elder beat Northridge 60-47 in their previous matchup on February 7th. Will Box Elder repeat their success, or does Northridge have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
