Basketball Game Preview: Polytechnic Panthers vs. Mayfield Cubs

Polytechnic has gone 9-1 against Mayfield recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Polytechnic Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Mayfield Cubs at 5:00 p.m. Polytechnic is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57.2 points per game this season.

Polytechnic will bounce into Tuesday's game after beating Providence, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Polytechnic claimed a resounding 70-21 victory over Providence. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 422nd, while the Pioneers are ranked 976th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Polytechnic relied on the efforts of Areni Ohanian, who went 9 for 20 on her way to 24 points in addition to seven boards and four steals, and Maggie Scholze, who made all 6 shots she took racking up 16 points and eight steals. Scholze is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed three or more in the last four games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Harper Doyle, who posted ten points.

Polytechnic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 16 consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Mayfield ended up a good deal behind Milken on Thursday and lost 55-36. The Cubs have struggled against the Wildcats recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost matchup.

Mayfield's loss dropped their record down to 6-5. As for Polytechnic, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season.

Polytechnic didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Mayfield when the teams last played back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 53-47 win. Will Polytechnic repeat their success, or does Mayfield have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.