Basketball Recap: Diego Aguilar Key Part of a Team Effort in Bears Win

Merced and Bear Creek faced off in a Battle of the Bears on Tuesday. The Merced Bears walked away with a 60-50 victory over the Bear Creek Bruins. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bears.

Diego Aguilar

Points (Career)

01/07/25 vs Bear Creek	22
12/26/24 vs Justin Garza	21
12/21/24 vs Bellflower	19
12/10/24 @ Immanuel	17
12/05/24 vs Pleasant Valley	14

Merced's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Diego Aguilar led the charge by going 9 for 13 on his way to 22 points. The dominant performance gave Aguilar a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Thomas, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine boards.

Merced was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matches.

Bear Creek's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Elijah Duncan, who posted 14 points. Another player making a difference was Eddie Andeola, who put up ten points.

Merced has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 10-7 record this season. As for Bear Creek, they have also traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-6 record this season.

Merced didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 49-45 win against Enochs on the 10th. Bear Creek has also already played their next game, a 57-42 defeat against Atwater on the 8th.