Basketball Game Preview: Highland Scots vs. Bakersfield Drillers

Having just played yesterday, the Highland Scots will head out on the road to face off against the Bakersfield Drillers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

Highland is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by West to the tune of 82-48 on Monday. The Scots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Bakersfield's strategy against Independence on Thursday. Bakersfield strolled past Independence with points to spare, taking the game 59-45. Given the Drillers' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 216th, while the Falcons are ranked 458th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Highland better keep an eye on Kade Johnson. He was instrumental in Bakersfield's win, going 9 for 14 en route to 21 points and six boards. Another player making a difference was Darryll Cartwright, who went 5 of 7 on his way to 13 points.

Bakersfield was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Independence only posted five assists.

Bakersfield's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-8. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.3 points per game. As for Highland, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 9-11 record this season.

Highland was dealt a bruising 81-44 loss at the hands of Bakersfield in their previous meeting on January 9th. Can Highland avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.