Basketball Recap: Moriarty Takes a Loss

Moriarty lost against Espanola Valley back in February of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Moriarty Pintos fell 60-53 to the Espanola Valley Sundevils. While losing is never fun, the Pintos can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 97th, while the Sundevils are ranked 16th).

When it comes to explaining why Moriarty lost, don't look at Jordan Brown. Despite the final result, he went 6 for 11 on his way to 21 points in addition to six boards and three steals. Brown's evening made it seven games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Albert Esparza, who posted 11 points and five rebounds.

Moriarty has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-11 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.0 points per game. As for Espanola Valley, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 16-4.

Moriarty wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 73-38 loss against Portales on the 27th. Espanola Valley has also already played their next matchup (against Los Alamos), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.