The Santiago Sharks will face off against the Norco Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Santiago is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Centennial just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They took a 76-70 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Huskies.
Meanwhile, Norco played a tough game on Wednesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 96-55 loss at the hands of Roosevelt. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 635th, while the Mustangs are ranked second).
Santiago will need focus on slowing down Ryan Ibbetson, one of several Norco players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 boards. Ibbetson's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Edgar Mojica, who posted 13 points.
Norco has traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-18 record this season. As for Santiago, their defeat dropped their record down to 21-9.
Santiago didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Norco in their previous matchup last Thursday, but they still walked away with a 45-40 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Santiago since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps