Xavier Prep is 2-8 against Palm Desert since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Xavier Prep Saints will head out on the road to take on the Palm Desert Aztecs at 6:30 p.m. Xavier Prep is hoping to put an end to a five-game streak of away losses.
Xavier Prep was handed a 42-point loss in their previous outing, but they didn't let that bad energy affect their game against La Quinta on Tuesday. Xavier Prep came out on top in a nail-biter against La Quinta and snuck past 42-39. The win was just what Xavier Prep needed coming off of a 84-42 loss in their prior matchup.
Xavier Prep relied on the efforts of Johnny Ferrel, who scored 11 points, and Paul Dreisbach, who scored 21 points along with four steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Dreisbach has scored at least a third of Xavier Prep's points.
Meanwhile, after a string of nine wins, Palm Desert's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. Their tough 57-37 defeat to Palm Springs might stick with them for a while. Palm Desert has struggled against Palm Springs recently, as their matchup on Tuesday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Jake Brande, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds. He hasn't dropped below two blocks for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jecorey Jones, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds.
Xavier Prep's win ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-17. As for Palm Desert, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 19-4.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's matchup: Xavier Prep have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 7.6 threes per game. It's a different story for Palm Desert, though, as they've been averaging only 6.8 threes per game. Given Xavier Prep's sizeable advantage in that area, Palm Desert will need to find a way to close that gap.
Xavier Prep was taken down by Palm Desert 76-42 in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. The game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Xavier Prep was down 44-19.
