Basketball Game Preview: Destiny Christian Academy Lions vs. Rio Linda Knights

Two dominant guards in Aaliyah Wilcox and LaRay Mitchell are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Destiny Christian Academy Lions will welcome the Rio Linda Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Rio Linda is facing Destiny Christian Academy at the wrong time: Destiny Christian Academy suffered their first home loss of the season on Tuesday and they're likely out for redemption. They fell 51-43 to the Huskies. 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 875th, while the Huskies are ranked 436th).

Meanwhile, Rio Linda had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Tuesday. They breezed by the Wolves to the tune of 73-11. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 49-11.

Rio Linda's win came from a few key players Destiny Christian Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Mitchell, who went 7 for 16 on her way to 19 points along with six boards and five assists. Mariah Walton was another key player, going 8 of 14 en route to 17 points and three steals.

Rio Linda smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in six consecutive contests.

Rio Linda has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.1 points per game. As for Destiny Christian Academy, their loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-10.

Everything came up roses for Destiny Christian Academy against Rio Linda in their previous meeting back in December of 2018, as the squad secured a 63-29 win. Does Destiny Christian Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will Rio Linda turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.