The Sylmar Spartans will face off against the Lakeview Charter Lions at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Sylmar is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They blew past Monroe 81-5. With the Spartans ahead 47-3 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Isabella Gonzalez
| 02/19/25 vs Monroe | 34 |
| 02/14/25 vs Canoga Park | 28 |
| 02/13/25 @ San Fernando | 15 |
| 02/12/25 vs Chatsworth | 27 |
| 02/10/25 vs Van Nuys | 16 |
| + 4 more games |
Sylmar can attribute much of their success to Isabella Gonzalez, who went 15-for-25 on her way to 34 points in addition to five rebounds and five steals, and Yaneli Zuniga-Hernandez, who went 10-for-18 en route to 25 points and five steals. The game was Gonzalez's ninth in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Audreena Bernal, who posted five points.
Meanwhile, Lakeview Charter waltzed into their contest on Wednesday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They claimed a resounding 48-13 victory over the Sharks. The Lions pushed the score to 39-10 by the end of the third, a deficit the Sharks had little chance of recovering from.
Sylmar better keep an eye on Evelyn Quinonez. She was instrumental in Lakeview Charter's win, going 6-for-10 to rack up 17 points and eight steals. Quinonez is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in each of the last 21 games she's played. Liliana Word was another key player, putting up eight points and six boards.
Lakeview Charter's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-8. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to assists: they averaged an imposing 9.8 assists in those games compared to only 9.8 in the others. As for Sylmar, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-12.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's match: Sylmar has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 40.1% of their three-pointers per game. It's a different story for Lakeview Charter, though, as they've only made 23% of their three-pointers this season. Given Sylmar's sizable advantage in that area, Lakeview Charter will need to find a way to close that gap.
Sylmar was able to grind out a solid win over Lakeview Charter in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, winning 45-36. Will Sylmar repeat their success, or does Lakeview Charter have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
