Preview: St. Francis Sharks vs. North Monterey County Condors
St. Francis has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the North Monterey County Condors at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully St. Francis focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 25 on Tuesday.
St. Francis suffered their biggest defeat since December 14, 2023 on Tuesday. They ended up on the wrong side of a tough 67-47 walloping at the hands of Seaside.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Joseph Rose, who scored 11 points along with five assists and four blocks. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more blocks the last six times he's played. Sam Braun was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six assists.
Meanwhile, North Monterey County pushed their score all the way to 55 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 67-55 to Alisal. While losing is never fun, North Monterey County can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 895th, while Alisal is ranked 412th).
St. Francis bumped their record down to 1-13 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight at home. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.0 points per game. As for North Monterey County, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost six of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-8 record this season.
Everything came up roses for St. Francis against North Monterey County in their previous meeting back in February of 2022 as the team secured a 77-26 win. Will St. Francis repeat their success, or does North Monterey County have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
