Basketball Game Preview: Spanish Springs Cougars vs. Archbishop Riordan Crusaders

Two dominant guards in Mackenzie Chase and Tallyah Nasol are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Spanish Springs Cougars will take on the Archbishop Riordan Crusaders in a tournament on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Last Thursday, Spanish Springs made easy work of Carson and carried off a 53-29 win. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three contests by 20 points or more this season.

Spanish Springs found their leader in sophomore Brooklyn Doyle, who went 5 for 6 on her way to 10 points in addition to eight boards and six steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Doyle has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Chase, who posted seven points and four steals.

Spanish Springs was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Riordan had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four last Saturday. They breezed by the Patriots to the tune of 78-33. Given the Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 96th, while the Patriots are ranked 516th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Archbishop Riordan's win came from a few key players Spanish Springs will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Sofia Barrientos, who put up 15 points. Nasol was another key player, putting up 13 points.

Archbishop Riordan's victory bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Spanish Springs, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season.