The Pioneer Patriots will be playing at home against the Wood Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Pioneer sitting on three straight wins and Wood on four.
In what's become a running theme this season, Pioneer gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. They breezed by Mira Loma at home to the tune of 67-21. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 32-5.
Pioneer can attribute much of their success to Keziah Maldonado-lemus, who scored 11 points along with eight assists and seven steals, and Olivia Gill, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 14 rebounds. Maldonado-lemus is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Marissa Christian, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Wood strolled past Vacaville with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 42-27.
Wood had a senior duo take command as Natalia Sanchez almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine rebounds and Sa?nyah Stewart scored 13 points along with three steals. Sanchez is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last ten games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Lucia Alexander, who scored eight points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Pioneer's victory bumped their record up to 25-3. As for Wood, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-11 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Pioneer have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 42.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Wood struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Pioneer beat Wood 41-32 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Does Pioneer have another victory up their sleeve, or will Wood turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
