Basketball Game Preview: Mesquite Wildcats vs. Marcos de Niza Padres

Mesquite has gone 10-0 against Marcos de Niza recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Mesquite Wildcats are taking a road trip to challenge the Marcos de Niza Padres at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Having struggled with four defeats in a row, Mesquite turned things around against Saguaro on Tuesday. They snuck past the Sabercats with a 58-53 win.

Mesquite got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Kobe Bradley out in front who posted 17 points and three steals. Bradley's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Marcus Ward, who put up 15 points and five rebounds.

Marcos de Niza has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took a 76-63 hit to the loss column at the hands of St. Mary's on Tuesday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Saturday (60), the Padres still had to take the loss.

Mesquite will need focus on slowing down Jeidarion Richard, one of several Marcos de Niza players who made an impact when they last played. He went 5 of 9 on his way to 13 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Solo Washington, who went 7 of 10 on his way to 16 points and six rebounds.

Mesquite's win bumped their record up to 7-8. As for Marcos de Niza, their loss dropped their record down to 11-5.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Mesquite has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 25 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Marcos de Niza struggles in that department as they've been averaging 40.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Everything came up roses for Mesquite against Marcos de Niza in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, as the team secured a 76-47 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Marcos de Niza's James Steward, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 13 boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Mesquite still be able to contain Steward? There's only one way to find out.