Basketball Recap: West Valley Comes Up Short

West Valley managed to keep up with Elsinore until halftime on Friday, but things quickly went downhill from there. The West Valley Mustangs were beaten by the Elsinore Tigers 93-61. The Mustangs have struggled against the Tigers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.

Despite the loss, West Valley still got an impressive performance from Malachi Black, who went 11 for 21 on his way to 27 points and seven rebounds. That was a full 44.3% of West Valley's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Malakhi Adams was another key player, going 6 of 10 on his way to 12 points and five rebounds.

Elsinore got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Brandon Boatman out in front who went 10 of 23 on his way to 27 points and four steals. The match was Boatman's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kamrynn Nathan, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 assists.

West Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 8-10. As for Elsinore, the win (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 12-8.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. West Valley will challenge Tahquitz at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday. As for Elsinore, they will take on Temescal Canyon at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.