Basketball Recap: Tuesday's Loss Ends Porterville's Winning Streak

Panthers

Previous 5 Games

01/21/25 vs Monache	66-71
01/17/25 @ Mt. Whitney	82-25
01/15/25 @ El Diamante	67-34
01/09/25 vs Golden West	65-44
01/07/25 @ Redwood	63-56

After a string of nine wins, Porterville's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell to the Monache Marauders 71-66. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Panthers came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 208th, while the Marauders are ranked 598th).

Ty Baxter was his usual excellent self, going 9 for 18 on his way to 27 points along with six assists and five boards for Monache. That's the most rebounds Baxter has posted since back in December of 2024. E'Saun Jefferson was another key player, putting up 21 points and seven boards.

Porterville's defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 4-1 and their overall record down to 16-7. As for Monache, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-10 record this season.

Porterville will welcome Redwood at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Porterville's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 11 games. As for Monache, they will venture away from home to face off against El Diamante at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Monache is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 60.8 points per game this season.