Basketball Game Preview: Paradise Bobcats vs. Pierce Bears

Paradise hasn't had much luck against Pierce recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Paradise Bobcats will host the Pierce Bears at 7:00 p.m. Paradise is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last seven games.

Paradise will head into Friday's contest hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by 40) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 44-42 win over Winters. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Bobcats have posted since February 9, 2024.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pierce). They breezed by Willows to the tune of 71-41 on Friday. The Bears have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 21 points or more this season.

Pierce's win came from a few key players Paradise will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jr Figueroa, who almost dropped a triple-double on 11 points, nine assists, and nine steals. Figueroa is crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least two every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Calvin Bair, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine boards.

Pierce was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in December of 2024.

Paradise is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.3 points per game. As for Pierce, their win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 8-10.

Paradise came up short against Pierce in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, falling 46-39. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pierce's Drew Burnum, who went 8 of 12 on his way to 20 points and five boards. Now that Paradise knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.