Basketball Game Preview: Hemet Bulldogs vs. Paloma Valley Wildcats

Hemet and Paloma Valley are an even 3-3 against one another since December of 2014, but not for long. The Hemet Bulldogs will challenge the Paloma Valley Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hemet knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 16 contests -- so hopefully Paloma Valley likes a good challenge.

Last Thursday, Hemet took their match with ease, bagging a 74-44 victory over Lakeside. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 287th, while the Lancers are ranked 1073rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Paloma Valley came up short against Tri-City Christian on Saturday and fell 51-41. The Wildcats were down 46-22 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Hemet pushed their record up to 16-2 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 76.0 points per game. As for Paloma Valley, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost ten of their last 13 games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-11 record this season.

Hemet was able to grind out a solid victory over Paloma Valley in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, winning 63-54. The rematch might be a little tougher for Hemet since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.