Basketball Game Preview: Rancho Christian Eagles vs. Hillcrest Trojans

The Rancho Christian Eagles will square off against the Hillcrest Trojans at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Rancho Christian knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past nine matchups -- so hopefully Hillcrest likes a good challenge.

Last Tuesday, Rancho Christian was fully in charge, breezing past Valley View 71-43. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 40-19.

Meanwhile, Hillcrest was beaten by Rancho Verde 62-35 on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Trojans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 301st, while the Mustangs are ranked 78th).

Rancho Christian is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a massive bump to their 14-11 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 74.4 points per game. As for Hillcrest, their defeat dropped their record down to 19-7.

Rancho Christian didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Hillcrest in their previous matchup on January 14th, but they still walked away with a 76-72 win. Does Rancho Christian have another victory up their sleeve, or will Hillcrest turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.