Sentinel vs Big Sky Preview

Thursday night tips off the first battles for the prep basketball city titles with Sentinel making the trip up South Avenue to take on the Big Sky Eagles in the first of two crosstown games this week.

A Look At The Boys

In the first game of the night the boys will take to the hardwood in a game between a pair of teams with their own stakes on the line. Sentinel comes into the game 2-0 to open conference play, and 3-3 overall with a chance to sit on top of the conference with wins this week over Big Sky and Hellgate. Leading the offense for the the Spartans is sophomore Alex Germer who burst on the scene last season as one the more talented freshman in the state.

Big Sky is under the guidance of first year head coach Cory Sova who is leaning on his junior leader Camdyn LaRance to help the Eagles buy into his new scheme. LaRance has averaged just over 20 points per game, scoring close to half of Big Sky’s points each night on the court. Seniors Dan Morin and Andrew Gardanier are top contributors to an offense that is averaging close to 55 points per game.

The key to an Eagle win Thursday night is for the defense to clamp down on Sentinels game in the paint by controlling the boards to prevent Spartan post players from feasting on second chance points. For the Spartan boys to earn a win against Big Sky is to use their depth on the bench to control the pace of the game to wear down the Eagles.

Now The Ladies

The second game of the crosstown doubleheader is between two teams that are seeking to gain a foot hold in the Class AA Western conference with a big win Thursday night. Sentinel is not playing their normal dominating basketball as they have of the past few season, but have one of the strongest forces on the court in girls prep basketball in Lexi Deden who is a stat leader in both phases of the game.

Big Sky has one of their best chances to beat the Spartans since Coach Anderson took over the Lady Eagle program with a strong group of girls to build the program off of. With the girls program growing at Big Sky, they have been able to find success on the court from underclassman like Corbyn Sandau who has been playing tag with Chasity Foote for top scorer each game out.

A tough game is a ahead of the Lady Eagles Thursday night as they will have to find a way to counter the height and experience of Lexi Deden who has been dominating the paint by pulling down boards which lead to second chance points for Sentinel. For the Lady Spartans to pick up their first conference win of the season they will need to press the ball early and often to get Big Sky off their game.