Basketball Recap: Cruz Valdez's Big Game Can't Quite Lead South Hills over Whittier Christian

South Hills was the 46-40 winner over Whittier Christian when they last played one another back in December of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. The South Hills Huskies fell just short of the Whittier Christian Heralds by a score of 65-62 on Monday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (61), the Huskies still had to take the loss.

South Hills lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Cruz Valdez, who posted 14 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Andy Barajas, who put up 14 points.

It was another big night for Leland Carrido, who dropped a double-double on 26 points and 12 rebounds for Whittier Christian. With that strong performance, Carrido is now averaging an impressive 15.8 points per game. Another player making a difference was Tate Dohrmann, who earned 14 points and five rebounds.

South Hills has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-7 record this season. As for Whittier Christian, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-5 record this season.

South Hills wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 51-46 win against West Covina on the 17th. Whittier Christian and Bolsa Grande will compete for holiday cheer at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The timing isn't great for Bolsa Grande: they have been struggling with three straight losses at home, while Whittier Christian has snatched up three consecutive wins on the road.