Basketball Game Preview: Desert Mirage RAMS vs. Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs

The Desert Mirage RAMS and the Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs will compete for holiday cheer at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Desert Mirage has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Desert Mirage is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 67-10 win over West Shores. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the RAMS as it put an end to their four-game losing streak.

It was another big night for Edy Espinoza, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and ten steals. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Adan Martinez, who posted ten points in addition to six rebounds and four steals.

Desert Mirage was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.

Coachella Valley played against La Quinta and lost via forfeit.

Desert Mirage's win bumped their record up to 5-7. As for Coachella Valley, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 6-1.

Desert Mirage took a serious blow against Coachella Valley when the teams last played back in January, falling 73-34. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Coachella Valley's Franky Aguirre, who put up 21 points. Now that Desert Mirage knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.