The Point Arena Pirates will square off against the Tomales Braves at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Point Arena has six straight victories, Tomales has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Tuesday, Point Arena didn't have too much trouble with Mendocino as they won 71-52.
Fernando Lopez was his usual excellent self, shooting 6-for-11 from deep and dropping a double-double on 36 points and ten rebounds. That makes it five consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Point Arena's points. Another player making a difference was Tosh Mouton, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 boards.
Point Arena smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 15 offensive boards in 45 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Tomales was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 44-38 to Anderson Valley.
Point Arena will need focus on slowing down Ryan Murray, one of several Tomales players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double on 11 rebounds and ten blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Josh Flores, who posted ten points in addition to six steals and five assists.
Point Arena's win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-3. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 32 points. As for Tomales, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Point Arena has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 48.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Tomales struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Point Arena against Tomales when the teams last played on January 7th, as the team secured a 73-39 victory. Will Point Arena repeat their success, or does Tomales have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
