Basketball Recap: Shafter Piles Up the Points Against Taft

Generals

Previous 4 Games

01/10/25 @ Taft	52-22
01/07/25 @ Delano	68-13
12/28/24 vs Sanger	61-39
12/27/24 @ Ridgeview	54-52

Shafter came tearing into Friday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They really took it to the Taft Wildcats for the full four quarters, racking up a 52-22 victory. Given the Generals' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 180th, while the Wildcats are ranked 909th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Shafter was led to victory by Isela Lugo and Kyla Schooley. Lugo posted 17 points in addition to eight boards and three steals, while Schooley dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds. That's the most boards Schooley has posted since back in January of 2024. Another player making a difference was Alexia Ramirez, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 11 boards.

Shafter is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.7 points per game. As for Taft, their loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 5-9.

Shafter didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 58-47 defeat against El Diamante on the 11th. As for Taft, a feisty cat fight will be fought when the Taft Wildcats take on the Wasco Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Wasco's defense has only allowed 26.1 points per game this season, so Taft's offense will have their work cut out for them.