Basketball Game Preview: Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences Vipers vs. Sherman Oaks CES Knights

The Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences Vipers will face off against the Sherman Oaks CES Knights at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with four straight losses, while Sherman Oaks CES will come in with four straight victories.

On Monday, Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences came up short against Vaughn and fell 37-24.

Despite their defeat, Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Lara Ledesma, who posted ten points, was perhaps the best of all. That was a full 41.7% of Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences' points, marking the 13th time in a row she's scored more than a third of the team's points.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Sherman Oaks CES's strategy against Fulton on Monday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Sherman Oaks CES blew Fulton out of the water with a 56-4 final score. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Sherman Oaks CES is also on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 22.9 points per game. As for Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences, their loss dropped their record down to 3-12.

Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences was taken down by Sherman Oaks CES 79-33 in their previous meeting back in January. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences was down 47-9.