Basketball Recap: Jaron Cross' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Fayette over Slater

Fayette was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their tenth straight loss dating back to last season. They came up short against the Slater Wildcats, falling 80-56. While losing is never fun, the Falcons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 495th, while the Wildcats are ranked 179th).

Several Falcons players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jaron Cross, who went 7 for 11 en route to 16 points. The dominant performance also gave Cross a new career-high in assists (three). Another player making a difference was Kaleb Friebe, who went 6 of 13 on his way to 14 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Even though they lost, Fayette was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matchups.

Fayette's defeat dropped their record down to 0-9. As for Slater, the win was the fifth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 7-3.

Fayette has already played their next game (against Belle), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Slater will be playing at home against Sturgeon at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are headed into the matchup with plenty of momentum (Slater has won four straight at home, while Sturgeon won three straight on the road), something that'll have to change.