Basketball Game Preview: Arleta Mustangs vs. Verdugo Hills Dons

The Arleta Mustangs will take on the Verdugo Hills Dons at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Verdugo Hills will be up against a hot Arleta squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Arleta blew past Chavez, posting an 89-30 victory. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 511th, while the Eagles are ranked 1340th), the result on Monday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, everything went Verdugo Hills' way against North Hollywood on Friday as Verdugo Hills made off with an 81-56 win. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 43-17.

Arleta better keep an eye on William Gharabekyan. He was instrumental in Verdugo Hills' win, dropping a triple-double with 33 points, ten rebounds, and ten steals. Thanks to that strong game, Gharabekyan now owns an excellent 45.2% shooting accuracy. The team also got some help courtesy of Jeffrey Moran, who went 7 of 12 en route to 19 points.

Verdugo Hills smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in nine consecutive contests.

Arleta's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-7. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 81.0 points over those games. As for Verdugo Hills, the win got them back to even at 13-13.

Arleta strolled past Verdugo Hills in their previous matchup two weeks ago by a score of 78-63. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Gharabekyan, who dropped a double-double with 21 points and 17 boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Arleta still be able to contain Gharabekyan? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.