Basketball Game Preview: Corning Cardinals vs. Las Plumas Thunderbirds

Two dominant guards in Jeff Mendros and T.J. Thompson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Corning Cardinals will host the Las Plumas Thunderbirds at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Last Friday, Corning lost to Orland on the road by a 65-46 margin. That's two games in a row now that the Cardinals have lost by exactly 19 points.

Meanwhile, Las Plumas was able to grind out a solid victory over Oroville on Friday, taking the game 54-42. Given the Thunderbirds' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 371st, while the Tigers are ranked 981st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Las Plumas' win came from a few key players Corning will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Frankie Causey, who posted 12 points along with five rebounds and four blocks. Those 12 points gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Casmir Jones, who put up 12 points.

The win made it two in a row for Las Plumas and bumps their season record up to 18-8. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.0 points over those games. As for Corning, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 12-12.

Corning didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Las Plumas in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 67-61 victory. Will Corning repeat their success, or does Las Plumas have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.