Palm Desert is 1-9 against Xavier Prep since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Palm Desert Aztecs will head out on the road to face off against the Xavier Prep Saints at 6:30 p.m. Hopefully Palm Desert focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Thursday.
Palm Desert unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak. They had to suffer through a rough 68-29 loss at the hands of Shadow Hills. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat Palm Desert has suffered yet this season.
Despite the loss, Palm Desert saw an underclassman step up: Katelyn Gallagher scored 13 points along with eight steals and six rebounds. That was a full 44.8% of Palm Desert's points, marking the 13th time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ava Tethal, who scored nine points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Xavier Prep stacked a 13th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat La Quinta 65-22 on the road. Given Xavier Prep's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 232nd, while La Quinta is ranked 711th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Xavier Prep's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Amoree Ferrel, who scored 19 points along with three steals. Tiffany Chang was another key contributor, going 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points and 2 assists.
Palm Desert's defeat dropped their record down to 10-6. As for Xavier Prep, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which somehow isn't as good as their 18-5 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Palm Desert have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 26.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Xavier Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 27.1 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Palm Desert lost to Xavier Prep on the road by a decisive 47-28 margin in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ferrel, who went 7 for 13 from beyond the arc en route to 25 points and 3 assists. Now that Palm Desert knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
