Basketball Game Preview: Damonte Ranch Mustangs vs. Bishop Manogue Miners

The Damonte Ranch Mustangs will hit the road for the first time this season to face off against the Bishop Manogue Miners at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Damonte Ranch is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 64.8 points per game this season.

Damonte Ranch saw some tournament action last Saturday. They took a 61-53 hit to the loss column at the hands of Huntington Beach. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Mustangs came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 29th in Nevada, while the Oilers are ranked 372nd in California).

Despite the defeat, Damonte Ranch had strong showings from Kin Vong, who went 7 of 12 en route to 21 points along with five rebounds and four steals, and Jeriah Macias, who posted 21 points and four steals. With that strong performance, Vong is now averaging an impressive 2.2 steals per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Zak Stanko, who put up five points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Bishop Manogue didn't have quite enough to beat Fernley on Thursday and fell 53-51. The Miners have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Damonte Ranch will have to contain Liam Sorensen as he made an impact in Bishop Manogue's last game. He went 7 of 15 on his way to 19 points. Those 19 points gave Sorensen a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaron Westphal, who posted nine points.

Bishop Manogue's loss dropped their record down to 3-3. As for Damonte Ranch, they now have a losing record at 2-3.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Damonte Ranch has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 27.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Bishop Manogue struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Damonte Ranch strolled past Bishop Manogue in their previous meeting back in February by a score of 61-46. The rematch might be a little tougher for Damonte Ranch since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.