The Portola Tigers will square off against the Oroville Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Portola's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four contests.
Portola is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Wooster just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 61-60 to the Colts. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 633rd in California, while the Colts are ranked 92nd in Nevada).
| 01/03/25 @ Wooster | 17 |
| 12/21/24 vs Fall River | 16 |
| 12/20/24 vs Tulelake | 18 |
| 12/19/24 @ Modoc | 20 |
| 12/14/24 vs Quincy | 17 |
Portola might have lost, but man, Connor Sheridan was a machine: he dropped a double-double on 30 points and 17 rebounds. Sheridan has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 41 times he's played. Magnus Berg was another key player, going 7 for 13 on his way to 20 points.
Meanwhile, Oroville came up short against Durham back in December of 2024 and fell 54-46. The Tigers have struggled against the Trojans recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Portola will have to keep a close watch on Kevin Taylor and Rashawn Bland, a pair of players who had a big impact on Oroville's prior game. Taylor posted 20 points in addition to six rebounds and four steals, while Bland went 6 of 12 on his way to 18 points and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jantzen Demitrial, who put up six points.
Oroville's defeat dropped their record down to 5-7. As for Portola, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-4.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Portola has been crazy accurate this season, having made 51.2% of their shots per game. It's a different story for Oroville, though, as they've only made 33.4% of their field goals this season. Given Portola's sizable advantage in that area, Oroville will need to find a way to close that gap.
Portola came up short against Oroville when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 58-48. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Taylor, who almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine boards. Now that Portola knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
