Basketball Game Preview: Sage Creek Bobcats vs. Hoover Cardinals

A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Sage Creek Bobcats take on the Hoover Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday... The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Sage Creek has seven straight wins, Hoover has eight straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Friday, everything came up roses for Sage Creek against Oceanside as the team secured a 73-33 victory. Given the Bobcats' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 186th, while the Pirates are ranked 676th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Elijah Stephens and Jordan Barnhart were among the main playmakers for Sage Creek as the former posted 20 points and six boards and the latter had 16 points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance gave Barnhart a new career-high in rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Kayden Naccarato, who put up seven points and five assists.

Meanwhile, Hoover didn't have quite enough to beat Patrick Henry on Friday and fell 51-49.

Sage Creek pushed their record up to 15-7 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34 points. As for Hoover, their loss dropped their record down to 7-17.

Sage Creek barely slipped by Hoover in their previous matchup back in June of 2021, winning 55-54. Will Sage Creek repeat their success, or does Hoover have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.