Two dominant guards in CJ Okeke and King Johnson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Artesia Pioneers will challenge the Warren Bears at 8:00 a.m. on Monday. Artesia will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.
On Saturday, Artesia earned a 57-45 win over Whittier Christian.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Warren). They claimed a resounding 85-34 victory over Firebaugh. With the Bears ahead 42-22 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Warren's win came from a few key players Artesia will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jay'Mari Redmond, who went 7 of 13 en route to 17 points along with five rebounds and five steals. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in steals. Another player making a difference was Johnson, who went 6 for 8 on his way to 16 points.
Warren smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in three consecutive contests.
Artesia's win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-5. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.0 points per game. As for Warren, the victory got them back to even at 10-10.
Artesia didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Warren in their previous meeting back in May of 2021, but they still walked away with a 61-55 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Artesia 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
