The Bear River Bruins will square off against the Oakmont Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Bear River is coming into the game on a four-game losing streak.
Last Wednesday, Bear River ended up a good deal behind Lincoln and lost 66-50. While losing is never fun, the Bruins can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 748th, while the Fighting Zebras are ranked 345th).
| 01/15/25 @ Lincoln | 25 |
| 01/13/25 @ Mira Loma | 32 |
| 01/10/25 @ Center | 29 |
| 01/08/25 vs Marysville | 15 |
| 12/28/24 vs Hillsdale | 24 |
Despite the defeat, Bear River got top-tier performance from Dylan Donley, who went 10 for 25 en route to 25 points. The match was Donley's 13th in a row with at least ten points. Luke Jeffers was another key player, putting up two points in addition to 11 boards and six assists.
Meanwhile, Oakmont didn't have too much trouble with Center on Tuesday as they won 69-54. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Vikings.
Bear River better focus on containing Aldin Bubic and Jayden Rodrigues as the pair were huge in Oakmont's win. Bubic dropped a double-double on 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Rodrigues went 7 of 15 on his way to 17 points and four steals. The dominant performance gave Bubic a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Daiveon Parker, who posted ten points.
Oakmont smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in three consecutive contests.
Oakmont's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-10. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.5 points per game. As for Bear River, their loss dropped their record down to 9-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Bear River has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Oakmont struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Bear River didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Oakmont in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 67-62 victory. Will Bear River repeat their success, or does Oakmont have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
