Basketball Game Preview: Mendota Aztecs vs. Chowchilla Tribe

The Mendota Aztecs will square off against the Chowchilla Tribe at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Mendota sitting on three straight victories and Chowchilla on four.

Mendota is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They walked away with a 67-58 win over Minarets.

Meanwhile, Chowchilla hadn't done well against Firebaugh recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. Everything went Chowchilla's way against Firebaugh as Chowchilla made off with a 65-41 victory. The Tribe pushed the score to 60-25 by the end of the third, a deficit the Eagles cut but never quite recovered from.

Mendota better keep an eye on Khaled Escheik. He was instrumental in Chowchilla's win, dropping a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Thanks to that strong game, Escheik now owns an excellent 45.1% field goal percentage. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristan Beardsley, who went 5-for-9 en route to 11 points and seven boards.

Chowchilla's win bumped their record up to 17-12. As for Mendota, their victory bumped their record up to 16-12.

Mendota beat Chowchilla 72-65 when the teams last played back in January. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Escheik, who went 8-for-14 on his way to 24 points in addition to eight rebounds and three steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Mendota still be able to contain Escheik? There's only one way to find out.