Golden West hasn't had much luck against Porterville recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Golden West Trailblazers will be playing at home against the Porterville Panthers at 6:30 p.m. Given that both suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Golden West came up into this matchup off a tough 50-point loss on Friday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of Mt. Whitney by a score of 45-42 on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Trailblazers have suffered since January 4, 2024.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Aniyah Venegas, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards. That was a full 38.1% of Golden West's points, marking the 17th time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Mia Thomas, who had nine points and eight boards.
Meanwhile, Porterville was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 44-39 to Redwood. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 862nd, while the Rangers are ranked 351st).
Porterville dropped their record down to 3-12 with the loss, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Golden West, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-10.
Golden West came up short against Porterville in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 50-37. Can Golden West avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
