Basketball Game Preview: Sahuaro Cougars vs. Cholla Chargers

Having just played yesterday, the Sahuaro Cougars will head out on the road to face off against the Cholla Chargers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Sahuaro has nine straight wins, Cholla has 20 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

On Thursday, Sahuaro beat Tucson High Magnet School 53-44.

Carly Coolidge was her usual excellent self, going 5 of 10 on her way to 16 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Biale Sika, who went 6 for 13 on her way to 13 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 74-9, which was the final score in Cholla's tilt against Buena on Wednesday. While losing is never fun, the Chargers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 266th, while the Colts are ranked 132nd).

Sahuaro has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.4 points per game. As for Cholla, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-11.

Everything came up roses for Sahuaro against Cholla in their previous meeting back in February of 2022, as the team secured a 71-4 victory. In that matchup, Sahuaro amassed a halftime lead of 48-4, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.