Basketball Game Preview: Castaic Coyotes vs. Canyon Cowboys

Castaic hasn't had much luck against Canyon recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Castaic Coyotes will host the Canyon Cowboys at 5:00 p.m. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Castaic is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Hart on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Castaic was outmatched by Hart and fell 62-7. The contest marked the Coyotes' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Meanwhile, Canyon unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Friday. They lost 57-36 to Valencia. While losing is never fun, the Cowboys can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 246th, while the Vikings are ranked 67th).

Castaic will need focus on slowing down Jasmine Williams, one of several Canyon players who made an impact when they last played. She posted 11 points along with five rebounds and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Darby Dunn, who earned 15 points.

Even though they lost, Canyon smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in eight consecutive matchups.

Canyon now has a losing record at 13-14. As for Castaic, their loss dropped their record down to 6-17.

Castaic was dealt a bruising 82-26 defeat at the hands of Canyon in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Dunn, who dropped a triple-double on 14 points, 16 assists, and ten steals. Now that Castaic knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.