Basketball Game Preview: El Capitan Gauchos vs. Los Banos Tigers

The El Capitan Gauchos are taking a road trip to face off against the Los Banos Tigers at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

El Capitan is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Golden Valley: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that El Capitan blew Golden Valley out of the water with a 55-19 final score. The Gauchos haven't had any issues with the Cougars recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.

Shantelle Magana

Steals

02/11/25 @ Golden Valley	6
02/06/25 vs Atwater	6
02/04/25 vs Buhach Colony	10
01/30/25 @ Merced	4
01/28/25 vs Los Banos	3

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead El Capitan to victory, but perhaps none more so than Shantelle Magana, who posted nine points and six steals. Magana has been hot, having posted three or more steals the last five times she's played. Another player making a difference was Alexis Valenzuela, who scored 13 points and four steals.

Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Los Banos against Buhach Colony on Tuesday as the team secured a 51-22 win. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 367th, while the Thunder are ranked 1138th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

The victory made it two in a row for Los Banos and bumps their season record up to 17-8. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.5 points over those games. As for El Capitan, their win bumped their record up to 23-4.

El Capitan took their victory against Los Banos in their previous matchup back in January by a conclusive 64-40. The rematch might be a little tougher for El Capitan since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.