The Pleasant Grove Eagles will head out to take on the Laguna Creek Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Pleasant Grove is coming into the contest hot, having won their last four games.
Pleasant Grove is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Elk Grove: they outscored them in every quarter. Pleasant Grove enjoyed a cozy 35-21 win over Elk Grove on Friday. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 226th, while the Thundering Herd are ranked 973rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/17/25 vs Elk Grove | 15 |
| 11/26/24 @ Fortune Early College | 14 |
| 12/19/24 vs Foothill | 12 |
| 11/30/24 vs Sutter | 10 |
| 12/09/24 vs Lodi | 8 |
Pleasant Grove relied on the efforts of Anniyah Banks, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Elena Delmundo, who posted eight points along with five boards and four steals. The dominant performance gave Banks a new career-high in boards.
Meanwhile, Laguna Creek suffered their closest loss since January 3, 2024 on Monday. They fell just short of Grant by a score of 48-45. The Cardinals have struggled against the Pacers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Pleasant Grove will have to contain Jestine Tofi as she made an impact in Laguna Creek's last game. She scored 17 points and eight rebounds. Tofi is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last four games she's played. Another player making a difference was Trinity Thao, who had six points and five boards.
Even though they lost, Laguna Creek smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 16 consecutive games.
Pleasant Grove has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. As for Laguna Creek, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pleasant Grove has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 36.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Laguna Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Pleasant Grove took a serious blow against Laguna Creek in their previous matchup back in December of 2019, falling 64-17. Can Pleasant Grove avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
