Basketball Game Preview: Palm Desert Aztecs vs. Twentynine Palms Wildcats

The Palm Desert Aztecs will challenge the Twentynine Palms Wildcats at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Palm Desert is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Shadow Hills just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Wednesday. They took a blow against the Knights, falling 73-26. While losing is never fun, the Aztecs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 426th, while the Knights are ranked 74th).

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Katelyn Gallagher, who posted eight points and five steals. She is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 40 games she's played dating back to last season. Ava Tethal was another key player, putting up eight points.

Meanwhile, Twentynine Palms came tearing into Thursday's matchup with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.6 points) and they left with even more momentum. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Rajahs 59-25. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 21 points or more this season.

Twentynine Palms is also on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.3 points per game. As for Palm Desert, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 15-8.

Palm Desert came up short against Twentynine Palms in their previous matchup back in December of 2018, falling 49-45. Will Palm Desert have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.