Basketball Recap: Palmer Takes a Loss

After flying high against Widefield last Friday, Palmer came back down to earth. The Palmer Terrors were just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 65-64 to the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies. The Terrors have struggled against the Grizzlies recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.

Despite the loss, Palmer still got an impressive performance from J'Twane Mike, who went 12 of 20 on his way to 26 points and three steals. Mike has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last four times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Zaveaun Hunter, who posted seven points along with 12 boards and three steals.

Even though they lost, Palmer smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.8 offensive boards per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 10.2.

It was another big night for Bryce Riehl, who had 21 points for Mesa Ridge. Another player making a difference was Isaiah Lucas, who put up 11 points.

Palmer's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-8. As for Mesa Ridge, the win (which was their 15th in a row) raised their record to 15-1.

Palmer and Mesa Ridge should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps Colorado Rankings. Palmer (ranked 75th) will meet Coronado (ranked 287th) at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Palmer is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road. Meanwhile, Mesa Ridge will square off against Canon City at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday up 186 places (20 vs. 206). Palmer is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57.3 points per game this season.