Basketball Game Preview: Fortune Early College Panthers vs. Sacramento Dragons

Two dominant guards in Heaven Graves and La Ne Dunn are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. Having just played yesterday, the Fortune Early College Panthers will get right back to it and host the Sacramento Dragons at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Fortune Early College will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.

Fortune Early College is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Esparto: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Fortune Early College blew Esparto out of the water with a 48-13 final score. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Panthers had established a 26 point advantage.

Tenya Bailey

Points

02/06/25 vs Esparto	16
02/04/25 @ Leroy Greene Academy	25
01/30/25 vs Westlake Charter	17

Tenya Bailey had a dynamite game for Fortune Early College, putting up 16 points. Bailey's evening made it three games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Omiia Stearne, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 15 boards.

Meanwhile, Sacramento unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They had to suffer through a 90-38 loss at the hands of Vanden. While losing is never fun, the Dragons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 382nd, while the Vikings are ranked 118th).

Fortune Early College will need focus on slowing down Dunn, one of several Sacramento players who made an impact when they last played. She dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds. Dunn is on a roll when it comes to boards, as she's now pulled down eight or more in the last 17 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Bianca Clark, who posted nine points and seven rebounds.

Fortune Early College's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-8. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.2 points per game. As for Sacramento, their loss dropped their record down to 17-8.

Fortune Early College came up short against Sacramento when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 53-47. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Dunn, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 16 boards. Now that Fortune Early College knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.