Franklin is 0-3 against the Cougars since January of 2023 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Franklin Yellowjackets will be playing at home against the Weston Ranch Cougars at 7:30 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Franklin has struggled recently with five losses in a row, while the Cougars will arrive with 16 straight wins.
Last Friday, Franklin had to suffer through a rough 87-26 loss at the hands of the Bruins. While losing is never fun, Franklin can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1263rd, while the Bruins are ranked 577th).
Meanwhile, Weston Ranch can now show off 15 landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Friday. They blew past Chavez 96-38 at home. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 55-21.
Weston Ranch's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Shaanveer Natt, who went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 22 points and 4 assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Natt has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Mateen Rafiq, who scored 25 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Franklin has not been sharp recently as the team's lost 13 of their last 14 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 1-24 record this season. As for Weston Ranch, their win was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 22-3.
Franklin was dealt a bruising 113-21 defeat at the hands of the Cougars in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rafiq, who almost dropped a double-double on 37 points and nine assists. Now that Franklin knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
