Basketball Game Preview: Escondido Charter Tigers vs. Pacific Ridge Firebirds

The Escondido Charter Tigers are taking a road trip to challenge the Pacific Ridge Firebirds at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Escondido Charter has five straight victories, Pacific Ridge has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

It was a proper cat-fight when Escondido Charter faced off against Hoover on Wednesday. Everything went Escondido Charter's way against Hoover as Escondido Charter made off with a 70-44 win. The Tigers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 25 points or more this season.

Noelle ChampagNe went supernova for Escondido Charter, going 8 of 13 on her way to 21 points and three steals. Champagne has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Azalea Vilaysing, who went 6 for 15 en route to 12 points and three steals.

Escondido Charter smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in eight consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Pacific Ridge played a tough matchup on Wednesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt a 63-22 loss at the hands of Santa Fe Christian. The Firebirds were down 55-19 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.

Escondido Charter pushed their record up to 11-7 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.7 points per game. As for Pacific Ridge, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-13.

Escondido Charter didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Pacific Ridge in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, but they still walked away with a 52-46 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Escondido Charter since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.