The Taft Toreadors will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Taft took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged Granada Hills Charter out 49-47. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Toreadors as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, Cleveland had already won 11 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.3 points) and they went ahead and made it 12 on Wednesday. They took down the Royals 75-59. Given the Cavaliers' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 135th, while the Royals are ranked 316th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Taft better focus on containing Serigne Deme and Cayden Kelly as the pair were huge in Cleveland's win. Deme dropped a double-double on 19 points and 13 boards, while Kelly went 7 for 12 on his way to 18 points and five rebounds. With that strong performance, Deme is now averaging an impressive 9 boards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Kamari King, who posted 14 points in addition to five assists and five rebounds.
Cleveland's victory was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 17-4. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.2 points per game. As for Taft, their win was their first in the league, bumping their league record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 10-12.
Taft was dealt a bruising 76-47 defeat at the hands of Cleveland when the teams last played two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of King, who went 8 of 14 en route to 19 points along with seven assists and six boards. Now that Taft knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
