Basketball Recap: Mountain View Academy Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Christopher Mercado and Caleb Penaflorida

Mountain View Academy has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took a 53-42 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Pacific Bay Christian Eagles on Monday. The match marked the Mustangs' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Mountain View Academy's loss came despite strong showings from Caleb Penaflorida and Christopher Mercado. Penaflorida posted 19 points and three steals, while Mercado put up 15 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. Mercado has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last five times he's played.

Leading Pacific Bay Christian to victory were Brady Strickland and Noah Jung. Strickland almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine boards, while Jung earned 18 points along with six rebounds and five assists. The dominant performance also gave Strickland a new career-high in steals (two). Another player making a difference was Jasper Watts, who scored six points.

Mountain View Academy's loss dropped their record down to 6-2. As for Pacific Bay Christian, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-7 record this season.

Mountain View Academy won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Kehillah at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Mountain View Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.9 points per game this season. As for Pacific Bay Christian, they also won't have to wait long for more action: they'll square off against San Francisco Christian at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pacific Bay Christian has five straight victories, San Francisco Christian has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.