Basketball Game Preview: Hamilton Bobcats vs. Santa Rosa Academy Rangers

Hamilton is 0-5 against Santa Rosa Academy since December of 2014 but things could change on Wednesday. The Hamilton Bobcats will be playing at home against the Santa Rosa Academy Rangers at 5:30 p.m.

Hamilton is headed into Wednesday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their ninth straight game on Monday. They were outmatched by Desert Christian Academy and fell 84-15. While losing is never fun, the Bobcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1378th, while the Conquerors are ranked 328th).

Meanwhile, Santa Rosa Academy had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past the Mustangs 79-56. The Rangers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Hamilton better keep an eye on Chris Jones. He was instrumental in Santa Rosa Academy's win, dropping a double-double on 29 points and 12 assists. Those 12 assists gave Jones a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Austyn Hopkins, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten boards.

Santa Rosa Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.

Hamilton's loss dropped their record down to 5-15. As for Santa Rosa Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-9 record this season.

Hamilton was taken down by Santa Rosa Academy 98-12 in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hopkins, who dropped a triple-double on 13 points, ten rebounds, and 11 assists. Now that Hamilton knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.