The Foothill Falcons will be playing in front of their home fans against the Mojave Rattlers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Foothill struggled with assists on Wednesday (Desert Pines had 11 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Foothill took a 64-59 hit to the loss column at the hands of Desert Pines. Foothill has not had much luck with Desert Pines recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Zak Abdalla put forth a good effort for the losing side as he dropped a double-double on 30 points and 12 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Shawn Salazar, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds.
Foothill struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Mojave faced Coronado in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Mojave took a 81-72 hit to the loss column at the hands of Coronado on Wednesday. Mojave's loss continues an unfortunate trend for the team, making it three in a row.
Despite the defeat, Mojave had strong showings from C.J. Shaw, who scored 29 points along with seven rebounds and two steals, and Zacarrion Jackson, who scored 13 points along with nine rebounds and six assists. Shaw is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Nathan Sherrard, who scored nine points along with five rebounds.
Foothill's defeat was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 10-7. Even worse, they were so close so many times: the losses came by an average of only four points. As for Mojave, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-7.
Tuesday's match is shaping up to be a scrappy match: Foothill have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 25.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Mojave struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 29.1 rebounds per game. Given Foothill's sizeable advantage in that area, Mojave will need to find a way to close that gap.
Foothill came up short against Mojave in their previous matchup back in December of 2021, falling 78-70. Can Foothill avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
