Basketball Game Preview: Chester Volcanoes vs. Burney Raiders

Chester and Burney are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2022, but not for long. The Chester Volcanoes will be playing at home against the Burney Raiders at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.

Chester is headed into Friday's contest hungry for a win as their strong season has now been derailed by two straight losses. They were five points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 45-40 heartbreaker at the hands of Redding Christian. That's two games in a row now that the Volcanoes have lost by exactly five points.

Meanwhile, Burney humbled CORE Butte with a 57-18 victory. The Raiders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten matches by 20 points or more this season.

Burney found their leader in freshman Aaliyah Perez, who went 11 of 22 on her way to 25 points and six steals. Perez has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last nine times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Alexis Witzel, who went 6 for 10 en route to 18 points and eight rebounds.

Chester's defeat dropped their record down to 12-6. As for Burney, their win bumped their record up to 15-6.

Chester came up short against Burney in their previous matchup on January 14th, falling 61-52. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Perez, who shot 6-for-8 from deep and dropped a double-double on 31 points and 11 steals. Now that Chester knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.