Preview: Oceanside Pirates vs. El Camino Wildcats
Oceanside is 2-8 against El Camino since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Oceanside Pirates will be staying on the road to face off against the El Camino Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on December 14th. Hopefully Oceanside focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 on Tuesday.
Oceanside has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matches by 34 points or more this season. They breezed by Valley Center on the road to the tune of 60-26. Given Oceanside's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 195th, while Valley Center is ranked 762nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Oceanside can attribute much of their success to Aubrey Madden, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds, and Martina Griffin, who scored 19 points along with seven steals. Madden is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Emily Johnson was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Meanwhile, El Camino's five-game losing streak came to an end on Tuesday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat San Pasqual 54-11 at home.
El Camino's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Aliyah Carter, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 15 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Carter scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Justine Stewart, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
Oceanside's victory bumped their record up to 7-1. As for El Camino, their victory ended a 15-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-6.
Thursday's match is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Oceanside have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 39.6 rebounds per game. It's a different story for El Camino, though, as they've been averaging only 33 rebounds per game. Given Oceanside's sizeable advantage in that area, El Camino will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Oceanside against El Camino in their previous meeting back in January as the squad secured a 61-28 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Oceanside since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
