Two dominant guards in Manno Jenkins and Nate Sweet are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Natomas Nighthawks will take on the Union Mine Diamondbacks at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Natomas sitting on nine straight victories and Union Mine on 12.
Natomas had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They breezed by Sutter on the road to the tune of 83-50 on Thursday. Natomas has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 games by 21 points or more this season.
Natomas' success was spearheaded by the efforts of Aeron Wallace, who scored 18 points along with six rebounds and five assists, and Jenkins, who scored 22 points along with five assists and five rebounds. Jenkins has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last ten times he's played. Another player making a difference was Darius Hemmingway, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Union Mine strolled past Riverbank with points to spare on Thursday, taking the game 67-48. Given Union Mine's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 200th, while Riverbank is ranked 514th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Natomas has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 22-8 record this season. As for Union Mine, their victory bumped their record up to 28-2.
Natomas and Union Mine were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in December of 2023, but Natomas came up empty-handed after a 76-75 defeat. Can Natomas avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
