Basketball Game Preview: Shasta Wolves vs. Red Bluff Spartans

vs

Previous Games

01/23/25 - Away	61-64 L
01/30/24 - Away	58-61 L
01/09/24 - Home	48-42 W
01/31/23 - Home	53-38 W
01/10/23 - Away	62-44 W
+ 5 more games

Shasta and Red Bluff are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2021, but not for long. The Shasta Wolves will be playing in front of their home fans against the Red Bluff Spartans at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Red Bluff took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Shasta, who comes in off a win.

Shasta will bounce into Friday's contest after beating Chico, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Shasta sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 67-64 win over Chico on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Wolves have posted since December 7, 2024.

Meanwhile, Red Bluff came up short against Pleasant Valley on Tuesday and fell 44-32.

Shasta will need to focus on slowing down Bryce Owens, one of several Red Bluff players who made an impact when they last played. He posted ten points and seven boards. Ryan Ross was another key player, putting up ten points.

Even though they lost, Red Bluff smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in November of 2023.

Shasta's win ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 12-15. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.0 points over those games. As for Red Bluff, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-11.

Shasta couldn't quite finish off Red Bluff when the teams last played back in January and fell 64-61. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Red Bluff's Kayden Leaf, who put up 25 points. Now that Shasta knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.