Basketball Game Preview: St. Mary's Rams vs. Lodi Flames

The St. Mary's Rams will venture away from home to challenge the Lodi Flames at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Last Saturday, St. Mary's came up short against Campolindo and fell 62-53. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 265th, while the Cougars are ranked 95th).

St. Mary's defeat came about despite a quality game from Jayden Hinkston, who went 8 for 16 on his way to 19 points. That's the most points Hinkston has posted since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Jonah Millonida, who posted eight points and five boards.

West typically has all the answers at home, but on Wednesday Lodi proved too difficult a challenge. They came out on top against the Wolfpack by a score of 50-39. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Flames.

St. Mary's now has a losing record at 11-12. As for Lodi, they pushed their record up to 16-8 with the win, which was their third straight on the road.

St. Mary's came up short against Lodi in their previous meeting back in January, falling 57-46. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Lodi's Sean Tetz, who went 9 of 16 en route to 23 points and six rebounds. Now that St. Mary's knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.