Basketball Game Preview: Kerman Lions vs. Exeter Monarchs

The Kerman Lions are taking a road trip to square off against the Exeter Monarchs at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Kerman has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with four straight losses, while Exeter will come in with ten straight wins.

It was a proper cat-fight when Kerman faced off against Santa Paula on Saturday. Kerman took a hard 79-63 fall against Santa Paula. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 852nd, while the Cardinals are ranked 404th).

Despite the defeat, Kerman had strong showings from Daniel Bibioff, who went 13 for 25 en route to 30 points in addition to seven rebounds and four steals, and Von Bibioff, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 11 rebounds. With that strong performance, Von is now averaging an impressive 15.4 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Adrian Torres, who posted four points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Exeter humbled Avenal with a 63-25 victory. The Monarchs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 21 points or more this season.

Exeter's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-1. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.2 points per game. As for Kerman, they now have a losing record at 7-8.

Kerman couldn't quite finish off Exeter in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 and fell 59-57. Thankfully for Kerman, Augusto De Castro (who went 10 of 21 on his way to 23 points in addition to seven rebounds and four steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.