Basketball Recap: Lakewood Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Ben Kerchner and Marcus Bane

Lakewood was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their ninth straight defeat dating back to last season. They fell 45-34 to the Grand Junction Tigers. While losing is never fun, Lakewood can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 276th, while Grand Junction is ranked 102nd).

Marcus Bane and Ben Kerchner certainly did their best on Saturday to avoid the loss. Bane posted 16 points, while Kerchner scored six points. That was a full 47.1% of Lakewood's points, marking the third time in a row he's had more than a third of the team's points. Tatum Bachicha also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

Grand Junction's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Andrew Henderson led the charge by going 6 for 11 en route to 16 points. The dominant performance also gave Henderson a new career-high in blocks (two). Another player making a difference was Grant Lewis, who put up 11 points.

Lakewood's loss dropped their record down to 0-8. As for Grand Junction, they now have a winning record of 5-4.

Lakewood didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 56-49 defeat against Denver North on the 7th. Grand Junction has also already played their next contest, a 50-42 victory against Glenwood Springs on the 7th.