The Village Christian Crusaders and the Verdugo Hills Dons will round out the year against one another at at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. Village Christian has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Village Christian is headed into the matchup having just posted their biggest win since January 30th on Saturday. They blew past Northview 57-27. Given the Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 344th, while the Vikings are ranked 792nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 12/21/24 vs Northview | 2 |
| 12/17/24 @ Pasadena | 2 |
| 12/14/24 vs Pioneer | 2 |
| 12/11/24 vs Crescenta Valley | 4 |
| 12/09/24 vs Notre Dame Academy | 3 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Village Christian to victory, but perhaps none more so than Madison Mulligan, who went 7 for 10 on her way to 20 points. Mulligan has been hot, having also posted two or more steals the last seven times she's played. Maddy Boquiren was another key player, putting up 12 points and five rebounds.
Village Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive boards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Verdugo Hills had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three last Saturday. They had just enough and edged the Chancellors out 51-48. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Dons have posted since January 31st.
Verdugo Hills' win came from a few key players Village Christian will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Amiyya Castanos, who went 6 of 9 on her way to 20 points and six rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Rayleen Castanos, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 14 boards.
Verdugo Hills has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season. As for Village Christian, the win got them back to even at 6-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Village Christian has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 33.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Verdugo Hills struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Village Christian against Verdugo Hills when the teams last played back in December of 2014, as the team secured a 59-31 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Village Christian since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
