Basketball Game Preview: Scotts Valley Falcons vs. Santa Cruz Cardinals

Scotts Valley is on a ten-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Santa Cruz is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Scotts Valley Falcons will host the Santa Cruz Cardinals at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

If Scotts Valley beats Santa Cruz with 58 points on Tuesday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. Scotts Valley simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat Harbor 58-9. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 220th, while the Pirates are ranked 1182nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Scotts Valley's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Samantha Rebbert, who posted 14 points and seven steals. Rebbert is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least three every time she's taken the court this season. Claire Skinner was another key player, dropping a double-double on 13 points and ten boards.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Santa Cruz's strategy against Soquel on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Santa Cruz blew Soquel out of the water with a 61-22 final score. With the Cardinals ahead 36-14 at the half, the game was all but over already.

Santa Cruz is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.1 points per game. As for Scotts Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 17-2.

Scotts Valley didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Santa Cruz in their previous matchup last Tuesday, but they still walked away with a 46-40 win. Will Scotts Valley repeat their success, or does Santa Cruz have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.