The Great Oak Wolfpack will square off against the Grand Terrace Titans at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Great Oak comes in on three and Grand Terrace on ten.
Last Wednesday, Great Oak got the win against Murrieta Mesa by a conclusive 47-25. Given the Wolfpack's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 294th, while the Rams are ranked 830th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Brianna Thomas
| 01/08/25 @ Murrieta Valley | 16 |
| 01/17/25 vs Temecula Valley | 14 |
| 01/15/25 vs Chaparral | 14 |
| 12/03/24 vs Roosevelt | 14 |
| 02/05/25 vs Murrieta Mesa | 12 |
| + 13 more games |
Great Oak's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Brianna Thomas led the charge by almost dropping a double-double with nine points and 12 boards. Thomas has become a key player for Great Oak: the team is 5-2 when she posts at least ten rebounds, but 6-11 otherwise. Jaiden Nieto was another key player, putting up nine points.
Meanwhile, Grand Terrace won against San Gorgonio last Tuesday with 51 points and they decided to stick to that point total again last Wednesday. Grand Terrace put the hurt on Colton with a sharp 51-30 win. The Titans have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 games by 21 points or more this season.
Grand Terrace's win came from a few key players Great Oak will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kayla Duran, who posted ten points in addition to seven boards and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayleen Barajas, who had ten points and three steals.
Grand Terrace smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in six consecutive matchups.
Grand Terrace pushed their record up to 20-6 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 21.0 points over those games. As for Great Oak, their win bumped their record up to 11-13.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Great Oak has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Grand Terrace struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
