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Moffat County’s girls basketball team will see it’s schedule get much tougher as the Bulldogs hit the road this weekend.

Moffat County (7-3, 6-1 Western Slope League) will visit Coal Ridge High School Friday in New Castle, then go to Grand Valley Saturday in Parachute. In addition to being on the road, both opponents should provide greater challenges for the Bulldogs than their recent games against teams at the bottom of the league standings.

Coal Ridge is 5-6 on the season and 4-4 in WSL Play. Grand Valley, meanwhile, has won five of six games since losing 52-31 to the Bulldogs in December in Craig.

“It’s the same prep every week, but we always have to stress that it’s hard to win on the road, no matter who you play,” Head coach Matt Ray said. “They’re going to play harder at home than on the road, they’ve got their own fans, their own gym, they’re used to shooting on those rims.”

But Ray considers it an advantage to see a team play once and then prepare for their style leading up to the game. It will be the Bulldogs second tilt against Grand Valley, and Ray said the three-point shot will be a key to the game.

“They (Grand Valley) have shot 230 threes halfway through the season,” Ray said. "That’s a ton. (In Craig) they were 2 for 22. But if they’re shooting 27 percent, their average, that’s more like 6-22. We know we’ve got to go out and cover that. If they get hot, they could hurt us.”

It is Moffat County’s first game against Coal Ridge this season, but one member of the team is familiar with the Titans’ players. Junior Allie Ehlers transferred to Moffat County after playing for Coal Ridge last season.

Ehlers expressed some nerves about going up against her former team.

“It’s going to be weird playing them because it’s my old team and I know a lot about them,” she said. “It’s going to be tough out there because I feel like we’re going to go at it.”

But both coach and player feel if the Bulldogs play to their ability, they will be happy with the result.

“If we just come out and play hard and play our style of ball we should be OK,” Ray said.

“We’ve just got to keep it together and play as a team,” Ehlers said. “Just fight and we’ll be fine.”

Nate Waggenspack can be reached at 875-1795 or nwaggenspack@craigdailypress.com.