Basketball Game Preview: Twentynine Palms Wildcats vs. Palm Desert Aztecs

The Twentynine Palms Wildcats just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Palm Desert Aztecs at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Twentynine Palms is coming into the contest hot, having won their last eight games.

Twentynine Palms is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Indio: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Twentynine Palms blew Indio out of the water with a 59-25 final score. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, after a string of five wins, Palm Desert's good fortune finally ran out on Wednesday. They were outmatched by Shadow Hills and fell 73-26. While losing is never fun, the Aztecs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 426th, while the Knights are ranked 74th).

Twentynine Palms will need focus on slowing down Katelyn Gallagher, one of several Palm Desert players who made an impact when they last played. She posted eight points and five steals. Gallagher is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 40 games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ava Tethal, who put up eight points.

Twentynine Palms' win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 20-3. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.2 points per game. As for Palm Desert, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 15-8.

Twentynine Palms didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Palm Desert when the teams last played back in December of 2018, but they still walked away with a 49-45 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Twentynine Palms since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.