Basketball Recap: Shafter Generals vs. Mission Oak Hawks
The Shafter Generals came tearing into Saturday's game with 11 straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 41.5 points) and they left with even more momentum. They snuck past Mission Oak with a 46-42 victory. This was payback for Shafter, who suffered a 55-45 loss the last time these two teams met.
Leading Shafter to victory were Isela Lugo and Alexia Ramirez. Lugo dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds, while Ramirez dropped a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds. Ramirez has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 11 times she's played. Ariana Escalera was another key contributor, scoring four points.
Despite the defeat, Mission Oak saw an underclassman step up: Aiyana Murray scored 15 points along with six steals. It was the first time this season that Murray scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Braelyn Serpa, who scored seven points along with two steals.
Shafter pushed their record up to 20-5 with that win, which was their seventh straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.9 points per game. As for Mission Oak, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 17-8.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Shafter will take on the Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Delano will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 1229th, while the Generals are ranked 247th). As for Mission Oak, they will head out on the road to square off against the Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
