Preview: Redlands East Valley Wildcats vs. Beaumont Cougars
The Redlands East Valley Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the Beaumont Cougars at 6:45 p.m. on Friday. Redlands East Valley is coming into the game hot, having won their last nine games.
Redlands East Valley posted their closest victory yet this season on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 53-51 win over Yucaipa. Given Redlands East Valley's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 241st, while Yucaipa is ranked 630th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Redlands East Valley got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Caio Da Silva out in front who scored 14 points along with five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jeremiah Ivens, who scored 15 points along with six steals.
Beaumont was handed a three-point defeat in their last contest, but they sure didn't let that happen against Citrus Valley on Wednesday. Beaumont put the hurt on Citrus Valley with a sharp 63-43 win. Beaumont pushed the score to 55-29 by the end of the third, a deficit Citrus Valley cut but never quite recovered from.
Beaumont's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Vince tracy Capuras, who scored 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Adrian Farias, who scored 13 points along with eight rebounds.
Redlands East Valley has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 matches, which provided a massive bump to their 17-7 record this season. As for Beaumont, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-7.
Redlands East Valley beat Beaumont 72-61 in their previous matchup on January 10th. The rematch might be a little tougher for Redlands East Valley since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
