Recap: Heritage Patriots vs. Pittsburg Pirates
The Heritage Patriots can now show off 15 landslide victories after their most recent game on Friday. They put the hurt on Pittsburg with a sharp 60-36 victory. Given Heritage's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 135th, while Pittsburg is ranked 697th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Heritage found their leader in underclassman Ze'ni Patterson, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds. Patterson is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Aubrey Villamor, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Pittsburg lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Jackie Martinez, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Ali Tautolo, who scored seven points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Heritage's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-8. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.4 points per game. As for Pittsburg, they have not been sharp recently as the team has lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-15 record this season.
Heritage and Vanden will face off at 5:00 p.m. on February 3rd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. One thing working in Vanden's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last ten games. As for Pittsburg, they will head out on the road to square off against Liberty at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Liberty will roll in looking for their eighth straight win, something Pittsburg surely won't give up without a fight.
