Basketball Recap: Pioneer Takes a Loss

Pioneer played a tough contest on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 74-37 loss at the hands of the Vanden Vikings. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 997th, while the Vikings are ranked 131st).

Despite the loss, Pioneer had strong showings from Melvir Pooni, who posted ten points, and Denzel Roberts, who had four points and six rebounds. Those six rebounds gave Roberts a new career-high.

Matthew Wright had a dynamite game for Vanden, almost dropping a double-double on 20 points and nine rebounds. Wright continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Isiah Dixon was another key player, putting up eight points and four steals.

Pioneer's defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 6-11. As for Vanden, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season.

Pioneer will be playing in front of their home fans against Rodriguez at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Vanden, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 58-55 victory against Sheldon on the 4th.