The Delta Saints will square off against the Elite Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Last Monday, Delta took a blow against Westlake Charter, falling 81-27. While losing is never fun, the Saints can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1371st, while the Explorers are ranked 611th).
The losing side was boosted by Wyatt Griffiths, who posted 12 points and eight boards. That was a full 44.4% of Delta's points, marking the fifth time in a row Griffiths has had more than a third of the team's points. Austin Ortega was another key player, putting up six points.
Meanwhile, Elite was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They came up short against Trinity Christian, falling 57-37. Elite was down 46-20 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Delta will need to focus on slowing down Omar Kirby, one of several Elite players who made an impact when they last played. He scored six points and six rebounds. Kirby is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 50% in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Toulon Thurston, who earned five points.
Elite's loss dropped their record down to 9-9. As for Delta, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Delta has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 24.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Elite struggles in that department as they've been averaging 38.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Delta couldn't quite finish off Elite when the teams last played back in December of 2025 and fell 54-51. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Eagles' AJ Hardaway, who went 8-for-12 to rack up 23 points along with seven boards and three steals. Now that the Saints know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
