Preview: Santa Maria Saints vs. Morro Bay Pirates
Santa Maria is 2-8 against Morro Bay since December of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Santa Maria Saints will head out on the road to challenge the Morro Bay Pirates at 6:30 p.m. Santa Maria has now lost eight straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since January 9.
Last Tuesday, Santa Maria was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 51-46 to Mission College Prep. While losing is never fun, Santa Maria can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 501st, while Mission College Prep is ranked 176th).
Santa Maria's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Nevaeh Madrigal, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds, and Brianna Hill who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 16 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Madrigal has scored all season. Brianna Vasquez was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Morro Bay beat San Luis Obispo 44-40 on Tuesday.
Santa Maria's defeat was their fifth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 14-13. As for Morro Bay, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-6 record this season.
Santa Maria came up short against Morro Bay in their previous matchup back in January, falling 55-44. Can Santa Maria avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
