Basketball Game Preview: Sunnyside Wildcats vs. San Joaquin Memorial Panthers

Sunnyside is 1-8 against San Joaquin Memorial since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Sunnyside Wildcats duke it out with the San Joaquin Memorial Panthers at 6:30 p.m. Sunnyside knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five matches -- so hopefully San Joaquin Memorial likes a good challenge.

Sunnyside is headed into the contest having just suffered their closest defeat since January 10th on Wednesday. They fell just short of Bullard by a score of 65-62. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 284th, while the Knights are ranked 137th).

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Malachi Barnes, who posted 23 points. His evening made it ten games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. CJ Jones was another key player, putting up 21 points.

Meanwhile, San Joaquin Memorial had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.4 points) and they went ahead and made it 11 on Wednesday. They claimed a resounding 79-38 win over the Patriots. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 16 games by 20 points or more this season.

San Joaquin Memorial pushed their record up to 23-4 with the victory, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 81.9 points per game. As for Sunnyside, their loss dropped their record down to 16-10.

Sunnyside might still be hurting after the 78-57 defeat they got from San Joaquin Memorial in their previous matchup last Wednesday. Will Sunnyside have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.