Two dominant guards in Manno Jenkins and Benny Ambriz are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Natomas Nighthawks will face off against the Casa Roble Rams at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Natomas comes in on four and Casa Roble on ten.
Natomas is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They came out on top against Venture Academy by a score of 66-53.
Manno Jenkins
| 02/25/25 vs Venture Academy | 25 |
| 02/21/25 vs West Campus | 20 |
| 02/19/25 vs Linden | 17 |
It was another big night for Jenkins, who posted 25 points in addition to eight assists and eight rebounds. The contest was his third in a row with at least 17 points. Another player making a difference was Alfred Wilkins, who scored 18 points.
Natomas smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 22 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Casa Roble beat Ripon Christian 63-57 on Tuesday.
Casa Roble's win came from a few key players Natomas will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Moses Oginni, who almost dropped a double-double with 15 points and nine boards. He has been hot recently, having also posted three or more steals the last four times he's played. Ace Villegas was another key player, going 8-for-19 en route to 16 points.
Casa Roble's win was their 14th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 27-4. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 28.5 points. As for Natomas, their victory bumped their record up to 24-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Natomas has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 31 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Casa Roble struggles in that department as they've been averaging 21.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Natomas couldn't quite finish off Casa Roble in their previous meeting on February 11th and fell 56-54. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ambriz, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds. Now that Natomas knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
