Basketball Game Preview: California Grizzlies vs. Carondelet Cougars

California hasn't had much luck against Carondelet recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The California Grizzlies will square off against the Carondelet Cougars at 7:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Carondelet will be up against a hot California team: the squad just extended their winning streak to five. California simply couldn't be stopped on Tuesday as they easily beat Foothill 66-23. Given the Grizzlies' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 70th, while the Falcons are ranked 695th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

California's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Trinity Chu led the charge by going 5 for 12 on her way to 15 points and three steals. Another player making a difference was Sofie Addiego, who posted 11 points and six assists.

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Carondelet on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Liberty out of the water with a 78-18 final score. With the Cougars ahead 41-10 at the half, the contest was all but over already.

Carondelet is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 20-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.0 points per game. As for California, their victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-8.

California lost to Carondelet on the road by a decisive 59-40 margin in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. Can California avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.