Irvine has enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the San Clemente Tritons at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Irvine will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 377th, while San Clemente is ranked 80th).
Last Friday, Irvine was able to grind out a solid victory over Brea Olinda, taking the game 52-41. The victory was just what Irvine needed coming off of a 80-55 defeat in their prior match.
Jaesang An was the offensive standout of the game as he scored 21 points. Another player making a difference was Jalen Yim, who scored 11 points along with 5 steals.
San Clemente has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 21 points or more this season. They blew past Portola 63-42. That's two games straight that San Clemente has won by exactly 21 points.
San Clemente can attribute much of their success to Porter Hansen, who scored 22 points, and Christian Fernandez, who scored 21 points along with 5 rebounds. The game was Hansen's eighth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Chase Tolliver, who scored 6 points along with 7 rebounds.
Woodrow Wilson's victory bumped their season record to 0-0 while Irvine's defeat dropped theirs to 6-5.
Keep an eye on the arc in Monday's matchup: Irvine have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 5.5 threes per game. It's a different story for San Clemente, though, as they've been averaging only 4.4 per game. Given Irvine's sizeable advantage in that area, San Clemente will need to find a way to close that gap. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
Irvine and San Clemente were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in December of 2017, but Irvine came up empty-handed after a 55-54 loss. Can Irvine avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
