A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Valley Center Jaguars face off against the Escondido Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday... Valley Center knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past three games -- so hopefully Escondido likes a good challenge.
Valley Center is headed into the contest having just posted their biggest victory since December 14, 2024 on Friday. They took their match with ease, bagging a 74-42 win over San Pasqual. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Jaguars just coasted through the last quarter.
| 01/24/25 vs San Pasqual | 42 |
| 01/21/25 vs Fallbrook | 27 |
| 01/17/25 @ Ramona | 34 |
| 01/14/25 @ Rancho Bernardo | 19 |
| 01/10/25 @ Classical Academy | 34 |
Lincoln Zetmeir continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 13 of 24 en route to 42 points and six rebounds. The game was his 20th in a row with at least ten points. Dustin Hotchkiss was another key player, going 8 for 14 on his way to 22 points and eight boards.
Meanwhile, Escondido fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Ramona on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 66-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bulldogs. The Cougars haven't had much luck with the Bulldogs recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.
Valley Center will need focus on slowing down Danny Valadez, one of several Escondido players who made an impact when they last played. He posted 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Nathan James, who had 18 points.
Valley Center's victory ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 6-14. As for Escondido, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 14-5.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Valley Center hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 57.2 points per game. However, it's not like Escondido struggles in that department as they've been averaging 58.7 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Valley Center took their win against Escondido in their previous meeting back in January of 2024 by a conclusive 65-43. Will Valley Center repeat their success, or does Escondido have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
