Basketball Game Preview: Monterey Trail Mustangs vs. San Joaquin Memorial Panthers

The Monterey Trail Mustangs will face off against the San Joaquin Memorial Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Monterey Trail's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.

Monterey Trail's tournament run continued when they took on San Leandro on Thursday. Monterey Trail put the hurt on San Leandro with a sharp 77-53 win. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 27th, while the Pirates are ranked 867th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Devaughn Dorrough and Derron White were among the main playmakers for Monterey Trail as the former went 8 of 10 en route to 23 points along with eight boards and three blocks and the latter went 6 of 9 on his way to 17 points and six assists. That's the most points White has posted since back in January. The team also got some help courtesy of Craigus Thompson, who posted ten points.

Meanwhile, San Joaquin Memorial hadn't done well against Clovis West recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. San Joaquin Memorial took down Clovis West 68-51.

Monterey Trail's record is now 6-1. As for San Joaquin Memorial, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.

Monterey Trail lost to San Joaquin Memorial on the road by a decisive 79-65 margin in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. Can Monterey Trail avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.