Basketball Game Preview: Pe Ell Trojans vs. Oakville Acorns

The Pe Ell Trojans will head out on the road to challenge the Oakville Acorns at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Pe Ell is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Willapa Valley on Saturday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Pe Ell came up short against Willapa Valley, falling 66-40. While losing is never fun, the Trojans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Washington basketball rankings (they are ranked 284th, while the Vikings are ranked 125th).

Pe Ell's loss came about despite a quality game from Calan McCarty, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten boards. Those ten rebounds gave McCarty a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Wyatt Harris, who posted nine points and six boards.

Even though they lost, Pe Ell smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive boards in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Oakville was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell 61-54 to Columbia Adventist Academy.

Pe Ell's loss was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 8-9. As for Oakville, they now have a losing record at 7-8.

Pe Ell didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Oakville when the teams last played on January 7th, but they still walked away with a 35-31 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pe Ell since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.