Fall River is 5-0 against Portola since December of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Fall River Bulldogs are on the road again and play against the Portola Tigers at 2:40 p.m. on December 15th. Fall River knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven games -- so hopefully Portola likes a good challenge.
Fall River has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 21 points or more this season. They breezed by Willows on the road to the tune of 65-23. Given Fall River's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 201st, while Willows is ranked 787th), the result on Saturday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Fall River's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Cannon Oilar led the charge by scoring 20 points along with seven assists. The contest was Oilar's eighth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Raul Iniguez, who scored 15 points along with five steals.
Meanwhile, Portola came tearing into Thursday's contest with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.5 points) and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on Modoc with a sharp 74-52 victory.
Portola found their leader in underclassman Connor Sheridan, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 rebounds. That makes it nine consecutive games in which Sheridan has scored at least 25% of Portola's points. Magnus Berg was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds.
Fall River's win bumped their record up to 7-1. As for Portola, their victory bumped their record up to 6-3.
Fall River strolled past Portola in their previous matchup back in December of 2022 by a score of 74-60. The rematch might be a little tougher for Fall River since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
