Basketball Game Preview: Maria Carrillo Pumas vs. Piner Prospectors

The Maria Carrillo Pumas and the Piner Prospectors will face off at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.

Maria Carrillo is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Cardinal Newman just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Friday. They fell just short of the Cardinals by a score of 54-51. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Pumas have suffered since January 30th.

Meanwhile, Piner entered their contest against Christopher on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Piner took a 68-60 hit to the loss column at the hands of Christopher. While losing is never fun, the Prospectors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 368th, while the Cougars are ranked 67th).

Loss or not, Piner got some senior leadership from Apollo Pereira and Brendan Walker. Pereira posted 23 points and six rebounds, while Walker dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 boards. The game was Pereira's 12th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Tyler Coester, who had eight points and five rebounds.

Piner's defeat ended an 11-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 8-5. As for Maria Carrillo, their loss dropped their record down to 9-4.

Maria Carrillo was able to grind out a solid victory over Piner in their previous meeting back in February, winning 67-58. The rematch might be a little tougher for Maria Carrillo since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.