Basketball Game Preview: Johnson Jaguars vs. Brandeis Broncos

Two dominant guards in Daryl Banks and Finley Montoya are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Johnson Jaguars and the Brandeis Broncos will compete for holiday cheer at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Friday, Johnson came up short against Antonian Prep and fell 65-56. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 98th, while the Apaches are ranked 20th).

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Maxwel Docktor, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 14 boards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Ian Joshua, who went 5 of 12 on his way to 17 points.

Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, Brandeis' good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 78-77 to San Angelo Central. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (57), the Broncos still had to take the loss.

Johnson will have to keep a close watch on Sean Tisdall and Montoya, a pair of players who had a big impact on Brandeis' prior game. Tisdall almost dropped a double-double on 39 points and nine rebounds, while Montoya went 10 of 17 on his way to 25 points along with five rebounds and four steals. The game was Montoya's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Karmen Gonzales, who posted three points and nine rebounds.

Brandeis' defeat dropped their record down to 12-7. As for Johnson, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 13-8.

Johnson skirted past Brandeis 50-48 when the teams last played back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for Johnson since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.