Preview: Mesquite Wildcats vs. Arcadia Titans
The Mesquite Wildcats will look to defend their home court on Thursday against the Arcadia Titans at 7:00 p.m. Mesquite knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past 13 matchups -- so hopefully Arcadia likes a good challenge.
On Tuesday, Mesquite beat Saguaro 61-52. Given Mesquite's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 19th, while Saguaro is ranked 138th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mesquite relied on the efforts of Christian Garven, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds and two steals, and Desean Middlebrook, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds and six blocks. Middlebrook has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Jaylen Wollangk, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Arcadia suffered their biggest loss yet this season on Tuesday. They were beaten by St. Mary's 68-39. Arcadia has struggled against St. Mary's recently, as their contest on Tuesday was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Mesquite is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-4 record this season. As for Arcadia, their loss dropped their record down to 10-9.
Mesquite strolled past Arcadia in their previous meeting back in January of 2023 by a score of 63-45. Does Mesquite have another victory up their sleeve, or will Arcadia turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
