Basketball Game Preview: Orcutt Academy Spartans vs. Arroyo Grande Eagles

The Orcutt Academy Spartans are taking a road trip to take on the Arroyo Grande Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Orcutt Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.9 points per game this season.

If Arroyo Grande heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Orcutt Academy took over last week. Orcutt Academy strolled past Mission College Prep with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 54-39. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Spartans.

Elizabeth Johnson continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 15 boards. She has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 31 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Iraya Bell-Jackson, who posted eight points and six boards.

Orcutt Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in 30 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Arroyo Grande hadn't done well against St. Joseph recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Arroyo Grande walked away with a 72-61 win over St. Joseph. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Eagles' disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 83rd, while the Knights are ranked 18th).

Arroyo Grande's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-7. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.0 points per game. As for Orcutt Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-4 record this season.

Orcutt Academy beat Arroyo Grande 48-39 in their previous meeting two weeks ago. The rematch might be a little tougher for Orcutt Academy since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.