Basketball Game Preview: Bishop Manogue Miners vs. Damonte Ranch Mustangs

The Bishop Manogue Miners will take on the Damonte Ranch Mustangs in a holiday battle at at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Bishop Manogue is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 60.5 points per game this season.

Bishop Manogue is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Nevada's top teams: Fernley, who was ranked 15th at the time (Bishop Manogue was ranked 20th). Bishop Manogue fell just short of Fernley by a score of 53-51 on Thursday. The Miners have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Liam Sorensen put forth a good effort for the losing side as he went 7 of 15 en route to 19 points. Those 19 points gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Aaron Westphal, who posted nine points.

Meanwhile, Damonte Ranch came up short against Huntington Beach last Saturday and fell 61-53.

Bishop Manogue will have to keep a close watch on Kin Vong and Jeriah Macias, a pair of players who had a big impact on Damonte Ranch's prior game. Vong went 7 of 12 on his way to 21 points along with five boards and four steals, while Macias had 21 points and four steals. Macias' afternoon made it six games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Zak Stanko, who put up five points and seven rebounds.

Damonte Ranch's loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 2-3. As for Bishop Manogue, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-3.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Bishop Manogue has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 29.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Damonte Ranch struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Bishop Manogue lost to Damonte Ranch at home by a decisive 61-46 margin in their previous meeting back in February. Thankfully for Bishop Manogue, Jace Anderson (who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 13 rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.