The Eastlake Titans will face off against the El Cajon Valley Braves at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Eastlake is coming into the game on the come-up as their season has now been buoyed by two straight victories. They enjoyed a cozy 45-28 win over O'Farrell Charter on Monday. The contest marked the Titans' most dominant victory of the season.
| 12/30/24 vs O'Farrell Charter | 2 |
| 12/28/24 vs Sage Creek | 2 |
| 12/27/24 vs Peninsula | 4 |
Eastlake found their leader in freshman Ari Ruperto, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 11 rebounds. Ruperto has been hot recently, having also posted two or more blocks the last three times she's played. Thea Joanne Manabat was another key player, putting up six points.
Eastlake smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in eight consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, El Cajon Valley waltzed into their game two weeks ago with four straight wins... but they left with five. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 60-19 win over the Bulldogs. The Braves have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matches by 34 points or more this season.
El Cajon Valley's win came from a few key players Eastlake will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Asia Marie Dixon, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 boards. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in blocks (eight). Another player making a difference was McKinley Morgan, who went 7 of 14 on her way to 16 points in addition to eight rebounds and eight steals.
El Cajon Valley is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.6 points per game. As for Eastlake, their victory bumped their record up to 4-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Eastlake has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 35.9 boards per game. However, it's not like El Cajon Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
