The De Beque Dragons and the Plateau Valley Cowboys will face off at 5:30 p.m. on December 13th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Hopefully De Beque focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 32 on Saturday.
De Beque unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak. They were the victim of a tough 58-33 loss at the hands of Rangely. While losing is never fun, De Beque can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 76th, while Rangely is ranked sixth).
De Beque's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Ileeyah Herrera, who scored 11 points, and Avery Rigsby who scored six points along with five rebounds. Herrera set a new season high mark in points with 11.
Plateau Valley has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matches by 39 points or more this season. They took their contest on the road on Saturday with ease, bagging a 67-28 victory over Crested Butte. With Plateau Valley ahead 41-13 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Emaline Ealey continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 33 points and 11 rebounds. The matchup was Ealey's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Meloni Miller, who scored nine points along with 11 rebounds and four steals.
De Beque's defeat dropped their record down to 4-2. As for Plateau Valley, the victory for they keeps them at an undefeated 4-0.
Wednesday's game is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: De Beque have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 28.8 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Plateau Valley, though, as they've been averaging only 40.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
De Beque didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Plateau Valley in their previous matchup back in February, but they still walked away with a 49-44 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Plateau Valley's Caley Shiflett, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds. Now that she won't be playing on Wednesday, will it be that much easier for De Beque to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
