Basketball Game Preview: La Quinta Blackhawks vs. Shadow Hills Knights

The La Quinta Blackhawks will head out to square off against the Shadow Hills Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.

La Quinta will bounce into Wednesday's matchup after beating Xavier Prep, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. La Quinta came out on top against Xavier Prep by a score of 36-29 on Wednesday.

La Quinta found their leader in freshman Leahnette Castro-Galarza, who dropped a triple-double on 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 steals. Castro-Galarza is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Sophie Barrow was another key player, putting up eight points along with seven boards and five assists.

La Quinta 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 eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Shadow Hills didn't have too much trouble with South Pasadena on Saturday as they won 70-51. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 87th, while the Tigers are ranked 214th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Shadow Hills has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.4 points per game. As for La Quinta, their record now sits at 11-8.

La Quinta was dealt a bruising 59-16 loss at the hands of Shadow Hills when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Thankfully for La Quinta, Victoria Hyatt (who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 17 rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.