Basketball Game Preview: Glendale Nitros vs. St. Genevieve Valiants

The Glendale Nitros will take on the St. Genevieve Valiants in a holiday battle at at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Glendale knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 12 contests -- so hopefully St. Genevieve likes a good challenge.

Glendale is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Wednesday as they easily beat Marshall 107-19. The Nitros have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matches by 37 points or more this season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Glendale to victory, but perhaps none more so than Mason Manalo, who almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine rebounds. Manalo's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Joshua Ballard, who almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine boards.

Glendale smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 39 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive games.

Meanwhile, St. Genevieve was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They were two points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 63-61 heartbreaker at the hands of Torrance. While losing is never fun, the Valiants can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 556th, while the Tartars are ranked 264th).

Glendale is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 78.7 points per game. As for St. Genevieve, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.

Glendale beat St. Genevieve 68-55 when the teams last played back in December of 2023. Will Glendale repeat their success, or does St. Genevieve have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.