The Hanford Bullpups will head out to square off against the Dinuba Emperors at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Hanford was beaten by Hanford West 73-42. While losing is never fun, the Bullpups can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 755th, while the Huskies are ranked 342nd).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Dinuba). They really took it to Kingsburg for the full four quarters, racking up a 78-21 victory. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Emperors had established a 46 point advantage.
Hanford better keep an eye on Jalissa Espirito. She was instrumental in Dinuba's win, going 7 for 12 from beyond the arc on her way to 31 points and six steals. Espirito's evening made it seven games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. Samantha Gonzalez was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 11 points and nine steals.
Dinuba smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in nine consecutive contests.
Dinuba has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.5 points per game. As for Hanford, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-9.
Hanford came up short against Dinuba in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, falling 45-41. Can Hanford avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
