Basketball Recap: Malakai Rodriguez's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Mission Oak over Tulare Western

Mission Oak was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They fell 79-70 to the Tulare Western Mustangs. While losing is never fun, the Hawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 826th, while the Mustangs are ranked 306th).

Several Hawks players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Malakai Rodriguez, who posted 23 points and three steals. Rodriguez's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Joaquin Torrez was another key player, putting up 16 points and three steals.

Even though they lost, Mission Oak smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive rebounds. This was only their 13th loss (out of 21 games) when they hit their own glass that hard.

Malachi Ficher continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Tulare Western, going 9 for 16 on his way to 23 points in addition to seven rebounds and five assists. Ficher has been hot, having posted 22 or more points the last eight times he's played. Another player making a difference was Aubrey Taylor, who went 7 of 11 en route to 15 points and six boards.

Mission Oak's loss dropped their record down to 9-15. As for Tulare Western, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a massive bump to their 16-8 record this season.

Mission Oak has already played their next match, a 73-51 defeat against Lemoore on the 31st. As for Tulare Western, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 55-48 win against Dinuba on the 31st.