Basketball Preview: Sammamish RedHawks vs. Lindbergh Eagles
The Sammamish RedHawks will head out on the road to face off against the Lindbergh Eagles at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Sammamish has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 788 points over their last 11 contests.
Sammamish pushed their score all the way to 66 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 79-66 hit to the loss column at the hands of Renton. The contest was a 31-31 toss-up at halftime, but Sammamish couldn't quite close it out.
Despite their defeat, Sammamish saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Rakin Showki, who scored 19 points, was perhaps the best of all. Showki is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 17 or more in the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Keith Kariuki, who scored 15 points.
Meanwhile, Lindbergh scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Monday. They took down Evergreen 75-56. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Lindbergh's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Lukas Lutthans, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds and three steals, and James Huff, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds. Lutthans also posted two blocks for the first time this season. John Chuol was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Sammamish's defeat ended a seven-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-5. As for Lindbergh, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-9 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Sammamish hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 67.8 points per game. However, it's not like Lindbergh struggles in that department as they've been averaging 59.1 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Sammamish skirted past the Eagles 62-59 when the teams last played back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sammamish since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
