The Ventura Cougars and the Bakersfield Drillers will round out the year against one another at at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Last Saturday, Ventura might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting Foothill an easy 65-42 victory. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 511th, while the Knights are ranked 127th).
Meanwhile, Bakersfield entered their match against San Joaquin Memorial on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Bakersfield came up short against San Joaquin Memorial, falling 69-49. The game marked the Drillers' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Ventura will have to keep a close watch on Kade Johnson and Rashaan Shehee, a pair of players who had a big impact on Bakersfield's prior game. Johnson went 7 for 16 on his way to 19 points and seven rebounds, while Shehee posted 11 points and four steals. With that strong performance, Johnson is now averaging an impressive 15.2 points per game.
Bakersfield's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-4. As for Ventura, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-8 record this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
