Preview: Grant Pacers vs. Monterey Trail Mustangs
Grant is 2-8 against the Mustangs since February of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Grant Pacers will head out on the road to face off against the Monterey Trail Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Grant put the finishing touches on their ninth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They breezed by River City on the road to the tune of 70-28. Given Grant's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 119th, while the Raiders are ranked 521st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Monterey Trail's and the Cougars' match on Tuesday was close at halftime, but the Mustangs turned on the heat in the second half with 44 points. Monterey Trail blew past the Cougars 73-41 at home. The win was just what Monterey Trail needed coming off of a 68-46 defeat in their prior contest.
It was another big night for Aaliyah Knox, who scored 21 points along with four steals. She continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaliyah Youngblood, who scored 13 points along with five assists and two steals.
Grant has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 19-4 record this season. As for Monterey Trail, they pushed their record up to 13-9 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
Grant strolled past the Mustangs when the teams last played back in January by a score of 52-37. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Youngblood, who scored 17 points along with four steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Grant still be able to contain Youngblood? There's only one way to find out.
