Preview: Manteca Buffaloes vs. El Camino Eagles
The Manteca Buffaloes will be playing at home against the El Camino Eagles at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully Manteca focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Tuesday.
Manteca fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Sierra but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 58-53 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Timberwolves. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Manteca came into the matchup with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 159th, while Sierra is ranked 429th).
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Jada Ikharo and Emma Gilmore. Gilmore had a great game and scored 11 points along with eight assists and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Ikharo did her best for the losing side, scoring 16 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only El Camino walked away with it. They blew past the Nighthawks 54-31. The win made it back-to-back wins for El Camino.
Noelle Potratz was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 22 points and 17 rebounds. Potratz is crushing the block category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Kiena Thomas was another key contributor, scoring three points along with 12 rebounds and five assists.
Manteca's loss dropped their record down to 22-6. As for El Camino, they have been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-13 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Manteca have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34 rebounds per game. However, it's not like El Camino struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.1 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
