Basketball Game Preview: Caldera vs. North Eugene Highlanders

Caldera will face off against the North Eugene Highlanders at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Caldera knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past eight matchups -- so hopefully North Eugene likes a good challenge.

Caldera saw some tournament action on Saturday. They took an 80-68 hit to the loss column at the hands of Trinity Lutheran. While losing is never fun, Caldera can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Oregon basketball rankings (they are ranked 107th, while Trinity Lutheran is ranked 14th).

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for North Eugene, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. They blew past Crescent Valley 64-33 on Monday. The Highlanders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 24 points or more this season.

Caldera better focus on containing Damon Keith and Jordan Gray as the pair were huge in North Eugene's win. Keith almost dropped a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Gray shot 56% from the field to rack up 20 points and five boards. The game was Gray's seventh in a row with at least 20 points. The team also got some help courtesy of D'Mariyae Ireland, who posted ten points.

North Eugene's win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-1. As for Caldera, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-4 record this season.

Caldera couldn't quite get it done against North Eugene when the teams last played last Sunday as they fell 80-72. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gray, who went 13-for-22 on his way to 32 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. Now that Caldera knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.