After six games on the road, Foothill is heading back home. The Foothill Cougars and the University Prep Panthers will face off at 6:30 p.m. on December 21st without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Foothill will be strutting in after a win while University Prep will be coming in after a defeat.
With a playoff game on the line, Foothill rose to the challenge on Saturday. They blew past the Trojans 50-19 on the road. The result was nothing new for Foothill, who have now won four contests by 26 points or more so far this season.
Bryce French was the offensive standout of the game as he scored 20 points along with five rebounds. That's the first time this season that he scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Asa Arnold, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, University Prep's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their third straight loss. They fell just short of Arcata by a score of 50-48. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for University Prep in their matchups with Arcata: they've now lost three in a row.
University Prep's defeat came about despite a quality game from Scott Steffan, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 13 rebounds. Devin Huegel was another key contributor, scoring seven points.
Foothill is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for University Prep, they now have a losing record at 5-6.
Thursday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Foothill have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 26.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like University Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 35.6 rebounds per game. Given Foothill's sizeable advantage in that area, University Prep will need to find a way to close that gap.
Foothill and University Prep were neck-and-neck in their previous matchup on December 1st, but Foothill came up empty-handed after a 55-54 defeat. Will Foothill have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.