Basketball Game Preview: San Marcos Knights vs. Mission Hills Grizzlies

The San Marcos Knights will head out to face off against the Mission Hills Grizzlies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. San Marcos knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past five games -- so hopefully Mission Hills likes a good challenge.

San Marcos is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Westview: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that San Marcos blew Westview out of the water with a 77-28 final score. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten contests by 21 points or more this season.

San Marcos can attribute much of their success to Jalen Williams, who went 9 for 13 on his way to 24 points and six boards, and Richie Ramirez, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance gave Ramirez a new career-high in boards. Elias Flaim was another key player, putting up ten points and six assists.

Meanwhile, Mission Hills unfortunately witnessed the end of their eight-game winning streak on Tuesday. They came up short against Del Norte, falling 62-36. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Grizzlies came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 163rd, while the Nighthawks are ranked 379th).

San Marcos' victory was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 18-3. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 30.3 points. As for Mission Hills, their defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 14-7.

San Marcos strolled past Mission Hills in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a score of 62-48. Does San Marcos have another victory up their sleeve, or will Mission Hills turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.