Having just played yesterday, the Westlake Charter Explorers will get right back to it and host the Stone Ridge Christian Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Westlake Charter is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 67.7 points per game this season.
Westlake Charter will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating Elite, who they had gone 0-3 against in their three prior meetings. Westlake Charter snuck past Elite with a 47-41 victory on Thursday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Explorers.
| 01/16/25 vs Elite | 14 |
| 12/17/24 vs Esparto | 13 |
| 12/10/24 vs John Adams Academy - El Dorado Hills | 12 |
| 12/20/24 @ Lindhurst | 12 |
| 11/22/24 @ Sacramento Waldorf | 11 |
Westlake Charter's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jarriel Taylor, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine boards, and Brian Ash, who posted seven points along with 15 rebounds and five steals. Those 14 points gave Taylor a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Quinones Fleeton, who scored 12 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Stone Ridge Christian had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15.8 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Wednesday. They blew past the Hawks 83-43. That's two games straight that the Knights have won by exactly 40 points.
Stone Ridge Christian's win came from a few key players Westlake Charter will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jaiden Sahota, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten assists. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 2.2 steals per game. Another player making a difference was Daijon ONeil, who went 7 of 12 en route to 18 points and four steals.
Stone Ridge Christian was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Stone Ridge Christian's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-9. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.5 points per game. As for Westlake Charter, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-2 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Westlake Charter has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 35.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Stone Ridge Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Westlake Charter took a serious blow against Stone Ridge Christian when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 90-57. Can Westlake Charter avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
