Basketball Recap: Varela Takes a Tough Playoff Loss

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Varela can now relate to. They took a 55-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Homestead Broncos. The Vipers have struggled against the Broncos recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost matchup.

When it comes to explaining why Varela lost on Monday, don't look at Aaron Reyes. Despite the final result, he went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 32 points and four steals. The dominant performance gave Reyes a new career-high in points.

Homestead's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Rodney Holmes led the charge by dropping a double-double on 20 points and 11 boards. Holmes is crushing it when it comes to rebounds: he's pulled down at least ten every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tavaris Slaton, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten boards.

Varela's loss dropped their record down to 11-9. As for Homestead, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season.

Varela does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Homestead, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next match, an 82-78 defeat against Coral Park on the 5th.