Tonight’s quarterfinal on the road against the no. 2 seeded Corona Santiago Sharks will be the first game of these playoffs that the Jordan Panthers are the underdog.  It’s a heck of a way to start the uphill battle—the Sharks are 27-2, a national top-twenty, and thought to be the only team in the CIF-SS bracket with much of a shot at knocking off Poly.  Their two losses both came in the championship games of a tournament, and they haven’t lost since December 9.

Their MO is the same as it was last year, when they gave Poly a decent run in the quarterfinals—drive and kick, hit your threes.  The personnel is much the same, too, as the Sharks are still led by the Lister twins, Jasmine and Cinnamon, who together average 30 points a game, and who combined have taken almost 300 three-pointers this year (the Sharks have shot over 500 of them as a team).  Defensively for Jordan, it will come down to how well they can defend on the perimeter.  The Panthers aren’t particularly strong inside, but they’re stronger than Santiago—if they let this turn into a shooter’s duel, they could be out of it early.  If they can force Jasmine Lister to put it on the ground, they’ll stand a much better chance.

Either way, Jordan will need to do some scoring.  Santiago averages 70 points a game this year, and when they get on a roll (easier to do at home) they can score with any team in the country.  Physical defense should throw a wrench into the works—and of course Jordan will have to have India Burke, Danesha Long, and Armani Wiley get hot on offense as well.

If you want to make the trip out to Corona to support your local team, here’s one set of directions: