Recap: El Paso Tigers vs. Bel Air Highlanders
The El Paso Tigers struggled with assists on Friday (the Bel Air Highlanders had 15 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. El Paso took a 34-27 hit to the loss column at the hands of Bel Air. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for El Paso in their matchups with Bel Air: they've now lost three in a row.
Despite the loss, El Paso still got an impressive performance from Natalia Thomas, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. The match was Thomas' fourth in a row with at least ten points.
Bel Air found their leader in underclassman Jayde Martinez, who scored nine points along with seven assists and seven steals. Martinez is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Alyssa Saldana, who scored nine points along with five steals.
El Paso's loss dropped their record down to 16-4. As for Bel Air, they pushed their record up to 15-2 with that win, which was their 17th straight at home dating back to last season.
El Paso will be home for the holidays to greet Hanks at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Hanks focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up ten on Friday. Bel Air will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Jefferson at 7:30 p.m. on January 2, 2024. Jefferson comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 22 points in their last six games, a trend the team is of course eager to reverse.
