Basketball Game Preview: Garden Grove Argonauts vs. Costa Mesa Mustangs

The Garden Grove Argonauts will challenge the Costa Mesa Mustangs at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday. Garden Grove has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with four straight defeats, while Costa Mesa will come in with three straight victories.

Last Thursday, Garden Grove came up short against Westminster and fell 52-44.

Laguna Hills typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday Costa Mesa proved too difficult a challenge. They snuck past the Hawks with a 36-32 win. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Mustangs' disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 872nd, while the Hawks are ranked 413th).

Costa Mesa's win came from a few key players Garden Grove will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Emi Kamikihara, who posted 13 points along with five boards and four steals. She is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last four games she's played. Another player making a difference was Leilani Quero, who put up 12 points and three steals.

Costa Mesa smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in eight consecutive matchups.

Garden Grove's loss dropped their record down to 6-14. As for Costa Mesa, their win bumped their record up to 10-13.

Garden Grove came up short against Costa Mesa when the teams last played two weeks ago, falling 40-28. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kamikihara, who had 18 points and five steals. Now that Garden Grove knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.