Basketball Game Preview: Pioneer Patriots vs. Vanden Vikings

The Pioneer Patriots will square off against the Vanden Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. The timing isn't great for Pioneer: they have been struggling with seven straight losses at home, while Vanden has snatched up five consecutive wins on the road.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 102-43, which was the final score in Pioneer's tilt against Sacramento on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1043rd, while the Dragons are ranked 212th).

Meanwhile, Vanden suffered their biggest loss since November 30, 2024 on Saturday. They came up short against Clovis North, falling 69-49.

Vanden's defeat dropped their record down to 14-8. As for Pioneer, their loss dropped their record down to 6-16.

Pioneer was taken down by Vanden 74-37 in their previous matchup on January 3rd. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Vanden's Matthew Wright, who almost dropped a double-double on 20 points and nine rebounds. Now that Pioneer knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.