The Walnut Mustangs will take on the Marquez Gladiators in a tournament on Monday. Walnut knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five matches -- so hopefully Marquez likes a good challenge.
Walnut fought the good fight in their overtime game against Glendora on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 71-66 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Tartans. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 223rd, while the Tartans are ranked 54th).
Meanwhile, Marquez came tearing into Saturday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 38.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Pirates by a score of 67-57.
Walnut better keep an eye on Elyjah Staples. He was instrumental in Marquez's win, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 20 boards. With that strong performance, Staples is now averaging an impressive 15.6 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Cravon Charles, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 14 rebounds.
Marquez smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in five consecutive matchups.
Marquez has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a massive bump to their 8-8-1 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.4 points per game. As for Walnut, their defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 15-7.
Walnut came up short against Marquez in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, falling 53-44. Thankfully for Walnut, Lamont White Jr (who went 12 for 26 on his way to 31 points and four steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
