Basketball Game Preview: Sonora Raiders vs. Murrieta Valley Nighthawks

The Sonora Raiders will take on the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks in a tournament on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

Sonora saw some tournament action on Wednesday. They took a 51-37 bruising from Etiwanda. While losing is never fun, the Raiders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 777th, while the Eagles are ranked 90th).

Meanwhile, Murrieta Valley unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell 85-77 to Canyon.

Sonora will have to keep a close watch on Parker Steffen and Jaizahn Lewis, a pair of players who had a big impact on Murrieta Valley's prior game. Steffen almost dropped a double-double on 22 points and nine assists, while Lewis went 9 of 22 en route to 23 points and three steals. The game was Lewis' eighth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tony Rutledge, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 14 points.

Sonora's loss dropped their record down to 2-6. As for Murrieta Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-2.