Foothill hasn't had much luck against Pleasant Valley recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Foothill Cougars will venture away from home to square off against the Pleasant Valley Vikings at 7:30 p.m. Foothill knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five games -- so hopefully Pleasant Valley likes a good challenge.
Last Tuesday, Foothill beat Enterprise 62-49.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Foothill to victory, but perhaps none more so than Cade Memeo, who went 5-for-12 on his way to 13 points. Matt Poulsen was another key player, going 5-for-10 en route to 17 points and five boards.
Meanwhile, Pleasant Valley came tearing into Tuesday's match with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Spartans by a score of 44-32.
Foothill better keep an eye on Keith Thompson. He was instrumental in Pleasant Valley's win, going 6-for-9 to rack up 14 points and five rebounds. Thompson is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 45% in the last nine games he's played. Another player making a difference was Anthony Sanchez, who posted nine points and three steals.
Pleasant Valley was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Red Bluff only posted four assists.
Pleasant Valley pushed their record up to 16-9 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. As for Foothill, they have been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-7 record this season.
Thursday's game will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Poulsen and Thompson. Poulsen has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 15 points, 1.6 steals, and 3 boards. For his part, Thompson has averaged 14.7 points, 1.2 steals, and 4.6 rebounds on 55.9% shooting.
Foothill came up short against Pleasant Valley in their previous meeting back in January, falling 47-43. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Thompson, who dropped a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. Now that Foothill knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
