The Mendocino Cardinals will head out on the road to challenge the Rio Lindo Adventist Spartans at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are closely ranked in California (Mendocino is ranked 669th, while the Spartans are ranked 658th).
Mendocino has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took a 51-40 hit to the loss column at the hands of Round Valley on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Rio Lindo Adventist beat the Mustangs 36-24 on Wednesday. The win made it back-to-back wins for Rio Lindo Adventist.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Rio Lindo Adventist to victory, but perhaps none more so than Belen Hernandez, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. Hernandez is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Torika Avoi was another key contributor, scoring four points along with nine rebounds and five steals.
Mendocino's loss ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 13-5. As for Rio Lindo Adventist, they pushed their record up to 16-4 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home.
Everything went Mendocino's way against the Spartans in their previous matchup back in February of 2020 as the Cardinals made off with a 70-48 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Rio Lindo Adventist's Mere Raumakita, who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. Now that she won't be playing on Monday, will it be that much easier for Mendocino to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
