Basketball Game Preview: Escondido Charter Tigers vs. Shadow Hills Knights

The Escondido Charter Tigers and the Shadow Hills Knights will round out the year against one another at at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Escondido Charter is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Escondido: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Escondido Charter blew Escondido out of the water with a 64-22 final score. The Tigers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 26 points or more this season.

Escondido Charter's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Noelle ChampagNe, who went 7 for 12 on her way to 14 points in addition to eight boards and seven steals, and Kami Gillis, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine steals. Gillis is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last six games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Zoha Shahriyar, who posted seven points and nine steals.

Meanwhile, Shadow Hills was able to grind out a solid win over Rancho Cucamonga last Saturday, taking the game 53-45. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Knights' disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 118th, while the Cougars are ranked 32nd).

Shadow Hills has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.4 points per game. As for Escondido Charter, their record now sits at 6-4.