Basketball Game Preview: Yucaipa Thunderbirds vs. Oak Hills Bulldogs

The Yucaipa Thunderbirds will face off against the Oak Hills Bulldogs at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Yucaipa comes in on 15 and Oak Hills on nine.

On Thursday, Yucaipa was able to grind out a solid victory over Beaumont, taking the game 56-47. Given the Thunderbirds' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 198th, while the Cougars are ranked 536th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Oak Hills). They took their game on Thursday with ease, bagging a 109-54 win over Apple Valley. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 matches by 23 points or more this season.

Oak Hills pushed their record up to 19-4 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 41.2 points. As for Yucaipa, their win bumped their record up to 20-3.

Yucaipa couldn't quite finish off Oak Hills in their previous meeting back in April of 2021 and fell 58-56. Can Yucaipa avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.