The Oroville Tigers will venture away from home to square off against the Portola Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Oroville is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.9 points per game this season.
Back in December of 2024, Oroville came up short against Durham and fell 54-46. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 914th, while the Trojans are ranked 277th).
Despite the defeat, Oroville had strong showings from Kevin Taylor, who posted 20 points in addition to six rebounds and four steals, and Rashawn Bland, who went 6 of 12 on his way to 18 points and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jantzen Demitrial, who put up six points.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Portola's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 61-60 to Wooster.
Oroville will have to contain Connor Sheridan as he made an impact in Portola's last game. He dropped a double-double on 30 points and 17 boards. Sheridan has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 41 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Magnus Berg, who went 7 of 13 on his way to 20 points.
Oroville has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-7 record this season. As for Portola, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Oroville has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Portola struggles in that department as they've been averaging 39.6 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Oroville was able to grind out a solid victory over Portola when the teams last played back in December of 2023, winning 58-48. The rematch might be a little tougher for Oroville since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
