Basketball Recap: Delano Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from RG Garcia and Jotham Amodo

Delano lost against McFarland back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The matchup between the Delano Tigers and the McFarland Cougars didn't end well, with the Delano Tigers falling 78-60. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1221st, while the Cougars are ranked 559th).

Jotham Amodo

Steals

02/06/25 vs McFarland	4
02/04/25 @ Wasco	2
01/31/25 vs Shafter	1
01/27/25 vs Del Oro	1
01/23/25 @ Kennedy	1
+ 8 more games

Delano's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Jotham Amodo, who posted 22 points along with seven boards and five assists, and RG Garcia, who dropped a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. What's more, Amodo also posted four steals, the most he's had since back in December of 2024. Elijah Torres was another key player, putting up nine points.

They weren't the only ones working in the assist department: Delano was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.

Leading McFarland to victory were Malachi Davis and Levi Diaz. Davis put up 20 points in addition to eight assists and seven rebounds, while Diaz went 10-for-17 en route to 26 points. The game was Diaz's fourth in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ulises Molina, who went 5-for-8 on his way to 11 points and four steals.

Delano has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight matchups, which has put a noticeable dent in their 6-15 record this season. As for McFarland, the victory was the 16th in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 23-5.

Delano wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 53-47 loss against Taft on the 11th. As for McFarland, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, an 81-63 defeat against Sierra Pacific on the 15th.