Basketball Recap: Jaden Merritt Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat West Valley

Murrieta Mesa won the last time they faced West Valley and things went their way on Monday too. The Murrieta Mesa Rams strolled past the West Valley Mustangs with points to spare, taking the game 68-52. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Rams.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Murrieta Mesa to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jaden Merritt, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten boards. The dominant performance also gave Merritt a new career-high in assists (four). Dayne Lumsden was another key player, going 7 of 10 on his way to 16 points.

Murrieta Mesa was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

West Valley's loss came despite strong showings from Malachi Black and Malakhi Adams. Black dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten boards, while Adams went 6 of 11 on his way to 13 points and five rebounds. Black has been hot recently, having also posted three or more steals the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Tieshon Spivey, who posted six points and ten rebounds.

Murrieta Mesa's record is now 7-11. As for West Valley, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-8 record this season.

Murrieta Mesa didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 56-54 defeat against Chaparral on the 8th. As for West Valley, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 62-47 loss against Temescal Canyon on the 8th.