Basketball Recap: Bella Vista Takes a Loss

After flying high against Ponderosa last Tuesday, Bella Vista came back down to earth. The Bella Vista Broncos came up short against the Rio Americano Raiders on Thursday, falling 80-56. While losing is never fun, the Broncos can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 688th, while the Raiders are ranked 132nd).

When it comes to explaining why Bella Vista lost, don't look at Mark Otrotsyuk. Despite the final result, he went 6 for 13 on his way to 19 points and three steals. Otrotsyuk has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Charley Metoyer, who posted 11 points.

Nathan Batta went supernova for Rio Americano, going 5 of 10 on his way to 14 points in addition to six assists and three steals. That's the most points Batta has posted since back in January of 2024. Another player making a difference was Jared Mikacich, who put up 12 points.

Bella Vista has traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-10 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.6 points per game. As for Rio Americano, the win was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 13-4.

Bella Vista will venture away from home to take on Inderkum at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Inderkum knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five matches -- so hopefully Bella Vista likes a good challenge. As for Rio Americano, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 55-39 loss against Archie Williams on the 11th.