Basketball Game Preview: Pacheco Panthers vs. Johansen Vikings

The Pacheco Panthers will venture away from home to take on the Johansen Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pacheco has three straight victories, Johansen has nine straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Pacheco will head into Thursday's matchup hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a three-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 39-point drubbing they dealt Central Valley on Thursday. Pacheco simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Central Valley 54-15. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 430th, while the Hawks are ranked 1023rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Mary Tava

Blocked Shots

01/30/25 vs Central Valley	4
01/28/25 @ Lathrop	4
01/23/25 vs Livingston	2
01/21/25 @ Grace Davis	2
01/16/25 @ Beyer	3

Pacheco found their leader in freshman Mary Tava, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. Tava has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more blocks the last 14 times she's played. Jeanette Ortiz was another key player, putting up 12 points.

Meanwhile, Johansen came up short against Ceres on Thursday, falling 44-19.

Johansen's defeat dropped their record down to 6-17. As for Pacheco, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season.

Everything came up roses for Pacheco against Johansen in their previous meeting back in January, as the squad secured a 60-33 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pacheco since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.