Basketball Game Preview: Hearne Eagles vs. Santa Maria Cougars

The Hearne Eagles will challenge the Santa Maria Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Hearne comes in on three and Santa Maria on four.

Hearne is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They claimed a resounding 78-46 victory over Flatonia. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 16 games by 21 points or more this season.

Dereion Mitchell

Field Goal Percentage (Career)

02/20/25 vs Flatonia	82%
12/06/24 vs Non Varsity Tournament Opponent	69%
12/07/24 vs Hempstead	64%
12/03/24 @ Thrall	58%
12/13/24 vs Non Varsity Tournament Opponent	57%

Dereion Mitchell continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double with 18 points and 12 boards. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in field goal percentage (82%). Another player making a difference was Zayden Mercer, who dropped a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.

Hearne smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 31 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds every time they've taken the court this season.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Santa Maria duked it out with Brackett on Thursday. Santa Maria came out on top against Brackett by a score of 73-62.

Hearne's win bumped their record up to 26-5. As for Santa Maria, their victory bumped their record up to 17-10.