Two dominant guards in Brandon Romero and Marcus Horton are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Hoopa Valley Warriors will venture away from home to face off against the Weed Cougars at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Hoopa Valley's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last seven matchups.
Hoopa Valley is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Plumas Charter: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Hoopa Valley blew Plumas Charter out of the water with a 98-64 final score. With Hoopa Valley ahead 51-30 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Hoopa Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Lyle Mckinnon, who went 6 for 10 on his way to 18 points in addition to five assists and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Ish E-Kor, who made all 6 shots he took from beyond the arc to post 18 points and six assists.
Hoopa Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in six consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Weed came tearing into last Saturday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 36 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with an 86-78 win over the Cardinals.
Hoopa Valley better keep an eye on Horton. He was instrumental in Weed's win, going 13 of 21 on his way to 30 points in addition to six rebounds and four steals. With that strong performance, Horton is now averaging an impressive 2.2 steals per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaxon King, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 11 boards.
Weed is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.7 points per game. As for Hoopa Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 11-3.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's matchup: Hoopa Valley has been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 40.2% of their three-pointers per game. It's a different story for Weed, though, as they've only made 27.6% of their three-pointers this season. Given Hoopa Valley's sizable advantage in that area, Weed will need to find a way to close that gap.
Hoopa Valley and Weed were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in December of 2014, but Hoopa Valley came up empty-handed after a 57-56 defeat. Can Hoopa Valley avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
