Basketball Game Preview: San Marcos Knights vs. Del Norte Nighthawks

San Marcos has won ten straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Del Norte has won ten straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The San Marcos Knights will host the Del Norte Nighthawks at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in San Marcos' favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last seven matches.

San Marcos is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Poway: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that San Marcos blew Poway out of the water with an 82-48 final score. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 21 points or more this season.

San Marcos can attribute much of their success to Richie Ramirez, who went 9 for 13 en route to 22 points in addition to eight rebounds and seven assists, and Jalen Williams, who went 11 of 18 on his way to 25 points and seven boards. The match was Williams' seventh in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Mike Brown, who went 7 for 8 on his way to 15 points along with six rebounds and four blocks.

Meanwhile, Del Norte strolled past Mt. Carmel with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 54-40. Given the Nighthawks' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 292nd, while the Sundevils are ranked 722nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Del Norte has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-11 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.9 points per game. As for San Marcos, their victory bumped their record up to 20-3.

Everything came up roses for San Marcos against Del Norte in their previous meeting on January 14th, as the team secured a 74-47 win. Will San Marcos repeat their success, or does Del Norte have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.