Basketball Game Preview: Dolores Huerta Prep Scorpions vs. Thomas MacLaren School Highlanders

Dolores Huerta Prep and Thomas MacLaren School are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2019, but not for long. The Dolores Huerta Prep Scorpions will face off against the Thomas MacLaren School Highlanders at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Dolores Huerta Prep is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak.

Dolores Huerta Prep is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Rye on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Dolores Huerta Prep was outmatched by Rye and fell 74-45. The Scorpions were down 61-35 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Thomas MacLaren School's strategy against The Colorado Springs School on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Thomas MacLaren School blew The Colorado Springs School out of the water with a 69-32 final score. The Highlanders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 25 points or more this season.

Thomas MacLaren School's win came from a few key players Dolores Huerta Prep will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Nathaniel Stokes, who went 9 of 13 en route to 19 points and three steals. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 15.1 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Lance Mathews, who posted eight points in addition to 14 boards and five steals.

Thomas MacLaren School has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.8 points per game. As for Dolores Huerta Prep, their loss dropped their record down to 2-10.

Dolores Huerta Prep suffered a grim 75-50 defeat to Thomas MacLaren School in their previous matchup on January 9th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mathews, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 14 rebounds. Now that Dolores Huerta Prep knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.