Preview: Thousand Oaks Lancers vs. Westlake Warriors
Thousand Oaks is 0-10 against Westlake since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Thousand Oaks Lancers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Westlake Warriors at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Wednesday, Thousand Oaks escaped with a win against Oaks Christian by the margin of a single free throw, 55-54. The win was just what Thousand Oaks needed coming off of a 57-29 defeat in their prior matchup.
Thousand Oaks can attribute much of their success to Kira Jones, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds, and Jaelah Brown, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 15 rebounds. Hailey Lauritzen was another key contributor, scoring four points.
Meanwhile, Westlake came tearing into Wednesday's match with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 32.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Calabasas 57-55. Given Westlake's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while Calabasas is ranked 266th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Westlake got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Mathis Dritz out in front who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 24 rebounds. Dritz is absolutely dominating the rebound category: she's posted at least eight every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Devin Feiereisen, who scored 17 points along with three steals.
Thousand Oaks has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 11-13 record this season. As for Westlake, they pushed their record up to 14-6 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.
Thousand Oaks might still be hurting after the 71-49 defeat they got from Westlake in their previous matchup two weeks ago. Will Thousand Oaks have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
