The Mojave Rattlers will head out on the road to square off against the Foothill Falcons at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Mojave has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 675 points over their last nine matchups.
Last Wednesday, Mojave faced Coronado in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Mojave took a 81-72 hit to the loss column at the hands of Coronado. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Despite the defeat, Mojave had strong showings from C.J. Shaw, who scored 29 points along with seven rebounds and two steals, and Zacarrion Jackson, who scored 13 points along with nine rebounds and six assists. Shaw is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Nathan Sherrard, who scored nine points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Foothill pushed their score all the way to 59 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Desert Pines 64-59. Foothill has struggled against Desert Pines recently, as their game on Wednesday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
The losing side was boosted by Zak Abdalla, who dropped a double-double on 30 points and 12 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Shawn Salazar, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds.
Foothill struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Mojave's loss was their third straight at home, which bumped their record down to 10-7. As for Foothill, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 10-7.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's game: Mojave have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 7.5 threes per game. It's a different story for Foothill, though, as they've been averaging only 6.7 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Mojave beat Foothill 78-70 when the teams last played back in December of 2021. Will Mojave repeat their success, or does Foothill have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
