Basketball Game Preview: El Rancho Dons vs. Baldwin Park Braves

The El Rancho Dons will take on the Baldwin Park Braves at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. El Rancho has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.

El Rancho is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. Everything went their way against Rosemead on Tuesday as El Rancho made off with a 65-41 victory. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded the Dons with their most commanding win of the season.

Adam Rivas and Troy Barajas were among the main playmakers for El Rancho as the former went 8 for 11 on his way to 17 points in addition to five rebounds and three blocks and the latter went 6 for 12 on his way to 18 points. The dominant performance gave Barajas a new career-high in points. Diego Picon was another key player, putting up eight points.

Meanwhile, Baldwin Park beat Edgewood 43-35 on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Braves.

Baldwin Park's win came from a few key players El Rancho will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Randle Tebo, who posted seven points and eight rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Rafael Godinez, who put up 13 points.

Baldwin Park now has a winning record of 5-4. As for El Rancho, their win ended a 12-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 3-3.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: El Rancho has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 20.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Baldwin Park struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Everything went El Rancho's way against Baldwin Park in their previous meeting back in January of 2023, as El Rancho made off with a 60-39 victory. Does El Rancho have another victory up their sleeve, or will Baldwin Park turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.