Basketball Game Preview: Linden Lions vs. Calaveras Red Hawks

Linden hasn't had much luck against Calaveras recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Linden Lions will be playing in front of their home fans against the Calaveras Red Hawks at 7:15 p.m.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 69-4, which was the final score in Linden's tilt against Riverbank on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1103rd, while the Bruins are ranked 176th).

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Calaveras' strategy against Summerville on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Calaveras blew Summerville out of the water with a 64-16 final score. The Red Hawks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 24 points or more this season.

Calaveras pushed their record up to 16-9 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 12.3 points over those games. As for Linden, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-12.

Linden was taken down by Calaveras 49-4 when the teams last played two weeks ago. That match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Linden was down 30-1.