Basketball Recap: Ellie Harrison's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Chico over Pleasant Valley

Chico was the 51-45 winner over Pleasant Valley when they last played one another back in January, but their luck changed this time around. The Chico Panthers took a 46-36 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Pleasant Valley Vikings on Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 161st, while the Vikings are ranked 24th).

Ellie Harrison

Field Goal Percentage (Career)

02/06/25 @ Pleasant Valley	83%
01/04/25 vs West Valley	67%
01/02/25 vs Shasta	55%
02/01/25 vs Christian Brothers	50%
01/25/25 @ Alameda	50%

Chico's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ellie Harrison, who went 5 for 6 on her way to 11 points. The dominant performance also gave Harrison a new career-high in field goal percentage (83%). Corrina Stephens was another key player, putting up five points and 11 rebounds.

Even though they lost, Chico smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups.

Pleasant Valley got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Aj Gambol out in front who went 10 of 24 to rack up 21 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Shannon Fong, who went 5 for 8 en route to 13 points.

Chico has been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 14-11 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.7 points over those games. As for Pleasant Valley, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 16 of their last 17 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 21-4 record this season.

Coming up, Chico will square off against Shasta at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Shasta is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52.4 points per game this season. As for Pleasant Valley, they will face off against Red Bluff at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Pleasant Valley also hasn't been messing around on offense: they've averaged 56.2 points per game.