Basketball Game Preview: Rancho Cotate Cougars vs. San Marin Mustangs

Rancho Cotate is 0-3 against San Marin since December of 2014 but things could change on Saturday. Having just played yesterday, the Rancho Cotate Cougars will head out on the road to face off against the San Marin Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Rancho Cotate is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Elsie Allen: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Rancho Cotate blew Elsie Allen out of the water with a 72-36 final score. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.

Rancho Cotate found their leader in freshman Izayah Rush, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 18 points and three steals. The game was Rush's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Kinerk, who posted four points along with six rebounds and five steals.

Meanwhile, San Marin hadn't done well against Tamalpais recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. San Marin came out on top against Tamalpais by a score of 65-57. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 285th, while the Red Tailed Hawks are ranked 783rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

San Marin's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-5. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.7 points per game. As for Rancho Cotate, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 12-2.

Rancho Cotate might still be hurting after the 56-34 loss they got from San Marin in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Can Rancho Cotate avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.