Basketball Preview: Payson Lions vs. Mountain View Bruins
The Payson Lions will head out on the road to take on the Mountain View Bruins at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Payson pushed their score all the way to 60 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 69-60 to Provo. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (57), Payson still had to take the loss.
Despite their loss, Payson saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Kamika Wesley, who scored 22 points along with eight rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Legend Reynoso was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Mountain View pushed their score all the way to 60 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They lost to Layton Christian Academy on the road by a decisive 76-60 margin.
Bryce Mella put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored 28 points along with three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Simeon Suguturaga, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Payson and nudges their season record down to 5-12. As for Mountain View, their loss dropped their record down to 13-8.
Tuesday's game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Payson have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 44.1% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Mountain View struggles in that department as they've made 42.1% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Payson couldn't quite finish off the Bruins in their previous meeting back in January and fell 55-53. Can Payson avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
