Basketball Recap: Central Plains' Luck Takes a Turn for the Worse on Saturday

After flying high against Little River last Thursday, Central Plains came back down to earth. The Central Plains Oilers took a 48-42 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Macksville Mustangs. The Oilers were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Mustangs earlier this season, when they won 53-50.

Diego Esparza was his usual excellent self, going 7 for 16 en route to 21 points along with five boards and three steals for Macksville. Esparza is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last 21 games he's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Carlos Ibarra, who posted six points and six rebounds.

Oilers

Previous 5 Games

01/25/25 vs Macksville	42-48
01/23/25 vs Little River	52-30
01/20/25 vs Nickerson	51-35
01/16/25 vs Skyline	49-18
01/14/25 @ Sterling	38-64

The loss snapped Central Plains' winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 9-3 record. As for Macksville, the victory was the fifth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-2.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Central Plains will welcome Otis-Bison at 7:00 p.m. on February 4th. Macksville has already played their next match (against Cunningham), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.