Basketball Recap: Coachella Valley's Loss Ends Five-Game Winning Streak on the Road

Coachella Valley has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They lost 81-61 to the Twentynine Palms Wildcats on Thursday. The Mighty Arabs were down 61-37 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

When it comes to explaining why Coachella Valley lost, don't look at Israel Garcia. Despite the final result, he posted 32 points and six steals. Garcia has become a key player for Coachella Valley: the team is 9-3 when he posts at least five steals, but 2-3 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabriel Lopez, who scored 12 points and three steals.

Mighty Arabs

Previous 2 Games

01/16/25 @ Twentynine Palms	61-81
01/14/25 vs Indio	65-71

Even though they lost, Coachella Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in three consecutive matches.

Twentynine Palms found their leader in sophomore Christopher Grabow, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 18 boards. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Grabow has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Ayden OGilvie, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Coachella Valley's defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 11-6. As for Twentynine Palms, their win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-16.

Coincidentally, both will both be playing Yucca Valley the next time they take the court. Twentynine Palms will host Yucca Valley at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, while Coachella Valley will host them at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.