Basketball Game Preview: Minarets Mustangs vs. Sierra Chieftains

Minarets hasn't had much luck against Sierra recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Minarets Mustangs will venture away from home to take on the Sierra Chieftains at 6:30 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Minarets will bounce into Friday's game after beating Fowler, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. Minarets skirted past Fowler 44-41. The Mustangs didn't have much to brag about two games back, but this victory makes it their second in a row.

Minarets' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kinzie Turner led the charge by putting up 11 points. Zaphara Bryon-Hamilton was another key player, scoring eight points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Sierra). They simply couldn't be stopped on Tuesday as they easily beat Chowchilla 67-30. Given the Chieftains' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 273rd, while the Tribe are ranked 651st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Sierra's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-6. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.3 points per game. As for Minarets, their victory bumped their record up to 3-10.

Minarets was taken down by Sierra 70-16 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Minarets was down 47-8.