The Marysville Indians will head out on the road to face off against the Rio Linda Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Marysville is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.9 points per game this season.
Marysville is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They enjoyed a cozy 55-40 win over Prospect. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Indians' disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 231st, while the Panthers are ranked 86th).
Demi Boykin
| 02/07/25 vs Mira Loma | 11 |
| 03/04/25 vs Prospect | 10 |
| 01/17/25 @ Mira Loma | 10 |
| 01/13/25 @ Center | 10 |
| 01/06/25 vs Chico | 8 |
| + 23 more games |
Marysville's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Demi Boykin, who dropped a triple-double with 19 points, ten boards, and ten steals, and Abigail Pietz, who posted 15 points along with seven rebounds and seven steals. Boykin has become a key player for Marysville: the team is 22-5 when she posts at least three steals, but 2-3 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Lisette Partida, who earned six points and 14 boards.
Marysville was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They are 22-3 when they've passed the ball that well.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Rio Linda, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Tuesday. They walked away with a 47-38 win over Fortuna on Tuesday.
Rio Linda found their leader in sophomore Savannah Grant, who dropped a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Grant has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more boards the last 12 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of LaRay Mitchell, who scored 12 points and seven rebounds.
Rio Linda pushed their record up to 28-4 with the victory, which was their tenth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 29.5 points. As for Marysville, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 24-8 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Marysville has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 36.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Rio Linda struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Marysville lost to Rio Linda on the road by a decisive 54-37 margin in their previous matchup back in January of 2020. Thankfully for Marysville, Brianna Carlile (who dropped a double-double with 22 points and ten boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
