Basketball Game Preview: Sierra Chieftains vs. Coalinga Horned Toads

The Sierra Chieftains will face off against the Coalinga Horned Toads at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Sierra is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Liberty: they outscored them in every quarter. Everything went Sierra's way against Liberty on Tuesday as Sierra made off with a 70-46 victory. Winning may never get old, but the Chieftains sure are getting used to it with their fourth in a row.

Sierra's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Micah Goodman led the charge by putting up 15 points in addition to six boards and five assists. Brayden Hallman was another key player, almost dropping a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds.

Goodman wasn't the only one working in the assist department: Sierra was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Liberty only posted six assists.

Meanwhile, Coalinga had already won 15 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 33.7 points) and they went ahead and made it 16 on Tuesday. They blew past the Broncos, posting an 81-51 win. Given the Horned Toads' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 556th, while the Broncos are ranked 1217th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Coalinga pushed their record up to 22-6 with the victory, which was their 18th straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.6 points over those games. As for Sierra, their win bumped their record up to 20-7.

Everything came up roses for Sierra against Coalinga when the teams last played back in November of 2023, as the team secured a 67-34 victory. Does Sierra have another victory up their sleeve, or will Coalinga turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.