Basketball Recap: Makenna Strycker's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Pioneer over Peru

Pioneer lost against Peru back in January of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The Pioneer Panthers took a 46-41 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Peru Tigers. That's two games in a row now that the Panthers have lost by exactly five points.

Several Panthers players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Makenna Strycker, who posted 17 points along with seven assists and six rebounds. That was a full 41.5% of Pioneer's points, marking the third time in a row she's had more than a third of the team's points. Michelle Harding also deserves some recognition as she posted her first block of the season.

Peru's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alivia Ross led the charge by putting up 11 points and seven boards. Ross has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. Addie Robbins was another key player, posting 15 points and five assists.

This is the second loss in a row for Pioneer and nudges their season record down to 11-9. As for Peru, they pushed their record up to 10-9 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road.

Pioneer has already played their next matchup, a 32-30 loss against West Central on the 24th. As for Peru, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 46-35 victory against Eastern on the 25th.