Basketball Recap: Palmer Takes a Loss

After flying high against Widefield last Wednesday, Palmer came back down to earth. The Palmer Terrors were just a bucket shy of victory on Friday and fell 49-48 to the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies. The Terrors have struggled against the Grizzlies recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.

Despite the loss, Palmer still got an impressive performance from J'Twane Mike, who went 10 of 21 on his way to 24 points. Mike has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Ayden Yunker was another key player, putting up 13 points.

Even though they lost, Palmer was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mesa Ridge only racked up five assists.

Mesa Ridge's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Zander Iwanski, who went 5 for 10 en route to 13 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brian Lamar, who posted eight points.

Palmer's loss dropped their record down to 7-7. As for Mesa Ridge, their victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-1.

Palmer and Mesa Ridge should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps Colorado Rankings. Palmer will square off against Coronado at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday up 213 places (75 vs. 288). Palmer is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.1 points per game this season. Similarly, Mesa Ridge (ranked 16th) will meet Canon City (ranked 235th) at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.