The Victor Valley Jackrabbits will take on the Yucaipa Thunderbirds in a holiday battle at at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Victor Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They walked away with a 78-67 win over Apple Valley last Tuesday. Winning may never get old, but the Jackrabbits sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Victor Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than IASIAH BUTLER, who went 9 for 16 on his way to 23 points. KEVEN WALLACE was another key player, going 7 of 13 on his way to 20 points.
Meanwhile, Yucaipa waltzed into their contest on Thursday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They came out on top against the Blackhawks by a score of 58-47. Given the Thunderbirds' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 249th, while the Blackhawks are ranked 616th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Yucaipa's win came from a few key players Victor Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jaxon Lerma, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards. That's the most rebounds he has posted since back in January. The team also got some help courtesy of Malik Young, who posted 13 points along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Yucaipa smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in four consecutive matches.
Yucaipa is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.3 points per game. As for Victor Valley, their record is now 5-7.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Victor Valley and Yucaipa are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Victor Valley hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.7 points per game. However, it's not like Yucaipa struggles in that department as they've been averaging 62.3 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Victor Valley skirted past Yucaipa 54-51 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Victor Valley since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
