Basketball Recap: Esperanza Comes Up Short

Esperanza was the 51-45 winner over Sunny Hills when they last played one another back in January, but their luck changed this time around. The Esperanza Aztecs were just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 38-37 to the Sunny Hills Lancers. The game marked the Aztecs' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Vincent Garza

Field Goal Percentage

02/04/25 vs Sunny Hills	78%
01/31/25 @ El Modena	63%
01/21/25 @ Brea Olinda	62%

Several Aztecs players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Vincent Garza, who dropped a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Garza is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 62% in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Alex Van Otterloo, who posted six points along with five boards and five steals.

Ze'Brien Watkins continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Sunny Hills, almost dropping a double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds. That's the most points Watkins has posted since back in November of 2024.

Esperanza's loss dropped their record down to 17-9. As for Sunny Hills, they have been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 19-9 record this season.

Esperanza didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 61-48 victory against Ontario Christian on the 12th. As for Sunny Hills, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 56-48 defeat against Linfield Christian on the 12th.