Basketball Game Preview: Novato Hornets vs. Albany Cougars

Novato is 0-6 against Albany since December of 2016 but things could change on Thursday. The Novato Hornets will head out on the road to challenge the Albany Cougars at 7:30 p.m.

Last Saturday, Novato lost to Windsor on the road by a 46-32 margin. While losing is never fun, the Hornets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 929th, while the Jaguars are ranked 305th).

Meanwhile, Albany earned a 62-50 victory over Pinole Valley on Friday. The Cougars pushed the score to 54-28 by the end of the third, a deficit the Spartans cut but never quite recovered from.

Albany's win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Novato, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-4.

Novato couldn't quite finish off Albany in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 and fell 51-48. Can Novato avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.