Basketball Game Preview: KIPP Esperanza Eagles vs. KIPP San Jose Collegiate Wolfpack

The KIPP Esperanza Eagles will square off against the KIPP San Jose Collegiate Wolfpack at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

KIPP Esperanza is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They came out on top in a nail-biter against East Palo Alto Academy on Tuesday, sneaking past 51-48. The victory was some much needed relief for the Eagles as it spelled an end to their five-game losing streak.

Eddie Whiteside continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 23 points and 16 rebounds. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 15.2 points per game. Jereny Castro was another key player, putting up 12 points.

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for KIPP San Jose Collegiate on Wednesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Summit Tahoma out of the water with an 82-22 final score. The Wolfpack have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 matches by 21 points or more this season.

KIPP San Jose Collegiate is also on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-9 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 32.8 points. As for KIPP Esperanza, their win ended a six-game drought on the road and puts them at 2-12.

KIPP Esperanza came up short against KIPP San Jose Collegiate in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, falling 47-36. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of KIPP San Jose Collegiate's Christian Ademe-Johnson, who went 6 for 14 en route to 17 points and eight boards. Now that KIPP Esperanza knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.