Two dominant guards in Trinity Chu and LaRay Mitchell are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The California Grizzlies and the Rio Linda Knights will compete for holiday cheer at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. California is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.3 points per game this season.
Last Tuesday, California didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Lincoln, but they still walked away with a 54-48 victory.
Sofie Addiego continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 7 for 15 on her way to 20 points and seven rebounds. Lauren Yee was another key player, putting up nine points and eight assists.
California smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Rio Linda on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Foothill out of the water with a 71-31 final score. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 23 points or more this season.
Rio Linda's win came from a few key players California will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Mitchell, who went 8 of 14 on her way to 20 points along with eight assists and five boards. Her evening made it seven games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Mariah Walton, who went 10 of 14 on her way to 20 points and five assists.
Rio Linda pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.9 points. As for California, their victory bumped their record up to 4-2.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as California and Rio Linda are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. California hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 56.3 points per game. However, it's not like Rio Linda struggles in that department as they've been averaging 60.4 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
California came up short against Rio Linda in their previous matchup back in December of 2015, falling 64-51. Thankfully for California, Brandy Huffhines (who went 6 of 11 on her way to 17 points in addition to eight assists and seven steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
