The Citrus Valley Blackhawks will take on the Orange Vista Coyotes in a holiday battle at at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Citrus Valley is headed into the contest having just suffered their closest loss since December 28, 2023 on Saturday. They fell just short of Temecula Prep by a score of 60-57. The Blackhawks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Meanwhile, Orange Vista unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Thursday. They fell 66-53 to Rancho Verde. While losing is never fun, the Coyotes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 263rd, while the Mustangs are ranked 48th).
Citrus Valley will need focus on slowing down Eric Wooten, one of several Orange Vista players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds. With that strong performance, Wooten is now averaging an impressive 8.2 boards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Brandon Suttle, who went 5 of 8 on his way to 14 points.
Even though they lost, Orange Vista smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in three consecutive games.
Orange Vista now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Citrus Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-4.
Citrus Valley was able to grind out a solid win over Orange Vista in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, winning 52-45. The rematch might be a little tougher for Citrus Valley 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
