Garden Grove has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Westminster Lions at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Garden Grove focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 16 on Tuesday.
Last Tuesday, Garden Grove was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 58-52 to Godinez Fundamental. While losing is never fun, Garden Grove can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1006th, while Godinez Fundamental is ranked 401st).
Despite their defeat, Garden Grove saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Ethan Juarez, who scored 15 points, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Drue Anzai, who scored 14 points.
Even though Westminster has not done well against Ocean View recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Westminster came out on top against Ocean View by a score of 72-64. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Westminster had a senior duo take command as Eric Hoang scored 26 points and MJ Gaza scored 18 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Hoang has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Matt Tran, who scored 14 points.
Garden Grove bumped their record down to 8-15 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road. As for Westminster, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-8 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Garden Grove have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 27.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Westminster struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 29.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Garden Grove suffered a grim 69-49 defeat to Westminster when the teams last played on January 3rd. Will Garden Grove have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
