vs
| 01/23/25 - Home | 45-59 L |
| 01/31/24 - Home | 66-63 W |
| 01/12/24 - Home | 75-66 W |
| 01/31/23 - Home | 74-60 W |
| 01/12/23 - Away | 62-48 W |
| + 5 more games |
Independence and Bakersfield are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The Independence Falcons will challenge the Bakersfield Drillers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Independence is coming into the matchup on a three-game losing streak.
It was a Battle of the Birds when Independence took on Bakersfield Christian on Thursday. Independence was outmatched by Bakersfield Christian and fell 77-44. While losing is never fun, the Falcons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 546th, while the Eagles are ranked 115th).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bakersfield). They blew past Ridgeview 88-52 on Thursday. The Drillers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine games by 21 points or more this season.
Independence better focus on containing Dominic Contreras and Kade Johnson as the pair were huge in Bakersfield's win. Contreras went 8 of 9 en route to 21 points and three steals, while Johnson went 7 for 13 on his way to 25 points and three steals. That's the most steals Contreras has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Omari Brown, who went 5 for 7 to rack up 10 points.
Bakersfield is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 19-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.8 points over those games. As for Independence, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-12.
Independence lost to Bakersfield on the road by a decisive 59-45 margin in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Johnson, who went 9 of 14 en route to 21 points and six boards. Now that Independence knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
