Basketball Game Preview: Rock Academy Warriors vs. Escondido Cougars

The Rock Academy Warriors are taking a road trip to square off against the Escondido Cougars at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Rock Academy is looking for their season's first win.

Rock Academy is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They fell 57-48 to Classical Academy on Tuesday.

Rock Academy might have lost, but man, James Whitley was a machine: he almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine boards. The game was Whitley's third in a row with at least ten points. Roland Balderramos was another key player, putting up 12 points and four steals.

While Escondido didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-18), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They walked away with a 61-50 victory over Mission Vista on Wednesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cougars.

Escondido pushed their record up to 7-2 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.4 points per game. As for Rock Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-5.

Rock Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over Escondido in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, winning 39-32. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rock Academy since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.