Basketball Game Preview: Piner Prospectors vs. Elsie Allen Lobos

Piner has gone 10-0 against Elsie Allen recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Piner Prospectors will take on the Elsie Allen Lobos at 7:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Piner has six straight wins, Elsie Allen has eight straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Tuesday, Piner didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Ukiah, but they still walked away with a 66-61 victory. Given the Prospectors' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 367th, while the Wildcats are ranked 790th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Piner got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Apollo Pereira out in front who posted 22 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. Pereira has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 11 times he's played. Another player making a difference was Brendan Walker, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 boards.

Meanwhile, Elsie Allen played a tough contest on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were outmatched by Rancho Cotate and fell 80-35. The Lobos were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 36-15.

Elsie Allen's loss dropped their record down to 4-14. As for Piner, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-8 record this season.

Everything came up roses for Piner against Elsie Allen in their previous matchup two weeks ago, as the team secured a 59-28 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Piner since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.