Basketball Game Preview: Highlands Scots vs. Woodland Christian Cardinals

The Highlands Scots will head out on the road to face off against the Woodland Christian Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

While Highlands didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-13), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They pulled ahead with a 47-46 photo finish over Mesa Verde on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Scots.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Woodland Christian). They claimed a resounding 81-36 win over Lindhurst. Given the Cardinals' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 485th, while the Blazers are ranked 1273rd), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Highlands better focus on containing Romello Bruhn and Tanner Thomas as the pair were huge in Woodland Christian's win. Bruhn almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine rebounds, while Thomas shot 4-for-7 from downtown and dropped a double-double on 24 points and 12 boards. Bruhn is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 16 or more in the last 42 games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Malakai Baker, who went 7 of 14 on his way to 18 points.

Woodland Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in four consecutive matchups.

Woodland Christian's victory bumped their record up to 10-5. As for Highlands, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.

Everything went Highlands' way against Woodland Christian in their previous meeting back in December of 2019, as Highlands made off with an 85-64 win. Will Highlands repeat their success, or does Woodland Christian have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.