Preview: Great Oak Wolfpack vs. Chaparral Pumas
The Great Oak Wolfpack will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Chaparral Pumas at 5:30 p.m. Great Oak will be looking to keep their six-game home win streak alive.
Even though Great Oak has not done well against Vista Murrieta recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Great Oak secured a 61-57 W over Vista Murrieta. Given Great Oak's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 211th, while Vista Murrieta is ranked 492nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Bri Thomas, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 15 rebounds. She is on a roll when it comes to blocks, as she's now posted two or more in the last six games she's played. Taylor Fuson was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Chaparral beat Temecula Valley 43-39 on Wednesday. The win made it back-to-back wins for Chaparral.
Chaparral's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Angela Dela Cruz, who scored ten points along with five rebounds, and Lexa Ava Li, who scored ten points along with three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Zetta Faasua, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds.
Great Oak has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a massive bump to their 14-7 record this season. As for Chaparral, they now have a winning record of 11-10.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Great Oak have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Chaparral struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Great Oak strolled past Chaparral in their previous matchup on January 9th by a score of 64-46. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Faasua, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 12 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Great Oak still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
