West Valley hasn't had much luck against Temescal Canyon recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The West Valley Mustangs will host the Temescal Canyon Titans at 5:15 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Back in December of 2024, West Valley didn't have too much trouble with Cathedral City as they won 43-26. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Mustangs.
West Valley found their leader in freshman Makayla Castaneda, who posted 33 points. That makes it three consecutive games in which Castaneda has scored at least a third of West Valley's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Frida Bastida, who put up eight points.
Meanwhile, Temescal Canyon posted their closest victory since January 6, 2024 on Monday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Carson 54-52. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Titans' disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 550th in California, while the Senators are ranked 43rd in Nevada).
West Valley better focus on containing Ahmani Browder and Sarai Kamweru as the pair were huge in Temescal Canyon's win. Browder dropped a triple-double on 22 points, ten rebounds, and 11 assists, while Kamweru dropped a double-double on 26 points and 11 boards. The contest was Kamweru's eighth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Savanna Gunnell, who had four points and five rebounds.
Temescal Canyon smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in eight consecutive games.
Temescal Canyon's win bumped their record up to 5-10. As for West Valley, their victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-3.
Wednesday's match will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Castaneda and Browder. Castaneda has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 15.8 points. For her part, Browder has averaged 19.5 points, 5.3 steals, and 8.1 assists.
West Valley was taken down by Temescal Canyon 65-9 when the teams last played back in December of 2015. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point West Valley was down 35-2.
