The Pitman Pride will face off against the Kimball Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Pitman is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against El Capitan on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Pitman was dealt a 66-25 loss at the hands of El Capitan. The Pride were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 43-9.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Dailynn Greener and Madysen Dietz. Dietz had a great game and posted 17 points and eight steals. Meanwhile, Greener did her best for the losing side, putting up 11 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Kimball entered their game against Lincoln on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Kimball came up short against Lincoln, falling 51-30. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 264th, while the Trojans are ranked 57th).
Pitman will have to keep a close watch on Gabrielle Robinson and Emma Coronado, a pair of players who had a big impact on Kimball's prior game. Robinson put up eight points along with seven boards and five steals, while Coronado posted 11 points. That was a full 36.7% of Kimball's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's had more than a third of the team's points.
Pitman dropped their record down to 6-10 with the defeat, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Kimball, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 10-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pitman has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 35.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Kimball struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Pitman took a serious blow against Kimball in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, falling 56-18. Can Pitman avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
