Basketball Preview: West Vikings vs. Tehachapi Warriors
West is on a five-game streak of home wins, while the Warriors are on a seven-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The West Vikings will take on the Tehachapi Warriors at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. West will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 399th, while the Warriors are ranked 154th).
Last Thursday, West came up short against the Bulldogs and fell 45-38.
Despite the defeat, West had strong showings from Iyanna King mathews, who scored 17 points along with four steals, and Caleigh Adams, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds. King mathews has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Nala Roberts Wright, who scored two points along with seven rebounds and four steals.
In what's become a running theme this season, Tehachapi gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. They put the hurt on North with a sharp 62-37 victory.
Tehachapi's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kennedy Perkins, who scored 19 points along with four blocks. Perkins hasn't dropped below two blocks for five straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Walden, who scored 11 points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
West's loss dropped their record down to 14-9. As for Tehachapi, they are on a roll lately: they've won 17 of their last 18 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 22-2 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: West have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Tehachapi struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
West was taken down by the Warriors 71-19 when the teams last played back in January. The match was all but decided by halftime, at which point West was down 44-13.
