The Elsinore Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Hemet Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Elsinore suffered their biggest defeat since December 27, 2023 on Saturday. They suffered a tough 42-20 defeat at the hands of Chino Hills. While losing is never fun, Elsinore can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 777th, while Chino Hills is ranked 179th).
Elsinore's loss came about despite a quality game from Ashirah Williams, who scored ten points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Williams has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. Iree Mativa was another key contributor, scoring five points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Hemet was just a bucket shy of victory on Wednesday and fell 50-49 to Orange Vista. Hemet has not had much luck with Orange Vista recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
This is the second loss in a row for Elsinore and nudges their season record down to 10-12. As for Hemet, their defeat was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 11-7.
Things could have been worse for Elsinore, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 45-28 loss to Hemet in their previous meeting on January 3rd. Can Elsinore avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.