The Walnut Mustangs will head out on the road to challenge the Diamond Bar Brahmas at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Even though Wilson scored an imposing 55 points on Thursday, Walnut still came out on top. Walnut took their match against Wilson 66-55. Given Walnut's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 273rd, while Wilson is ranked 615th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Walnut's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Cory Fluker, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Fluker continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaiah Leon, who scored 12 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Diamond Bar had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.8 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Thursday. They secured a 65-59 W over Rowland. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Walnut pushed their record up to 17-8 with that win, which was their 11th straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.7 points per game. As for Diamond Bar, they have been performing well recently as they've won 12 of their last 15 games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-8 record this season.
Walnut skirted past Diamond Bar 58-55 in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Walnut since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
