Basketball Game Preview: Oceanside Pirates vs. Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders

The Oceanside Pirates are taking a road trip to take on the Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

On Friday, Oceanside humbled Sage Creek with a 55-13 victory. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Pirates.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Mater Dei Catholic, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Wednesday. They took their matchup on Friday with ease, bagging a 69-23 victory over Olympian. Given the Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 327th, while the Eagles are ranked 722nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Mater Dei Catholic's win came from a few key players Oceanside will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Promise Martin, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 18 rebounds. Mater Dei Catholic is 3-1 when Martin posts ten or more boards, but 8-9 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Tess Warren, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Mater Dei Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 35 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.

Mater Dei Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a massive bump to their 11-10 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.0 points per game. As for Oceanside, their win ended a four-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 11-10.

Oceanside came up short against Mater Dei Catholic when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 37-33. Can Oceanside avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.