Basketball Recap: Pioneer Piles Up the Points Against Artesia

There's no place like home for Pioneer, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Wednesday. They took their matchup on Friday with ease, bagging a 71-7 win over the Artesia Pioneers. With the Titans ahead 48-2 at the half, the game was all but over already.

Alissa Belen

Steals (Career)

01/17/25 vs Artesia	4
01/07/25 vs Glenn	3
12/28/24 vs Hesperia	3
12/27/24 vs Claremont	3
12/10/24 vs Buena Park	2

Pioneer's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alissa Belen led the charge by going 7 of 12 on her way to 17 points and four steals. Those four steals gave Belen a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Almendarez, who went 6 for 9 en route to 15 points along with six rebounds and three steals.

Pioneer is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten contests, which provided a massive bump to their 9-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.9 points per game. As for Artesia, they are on a 15-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-11.

Pioneer and Artesia could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps California Rankings. Pioneer will take on Long Beach Poly at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday down 122 places (219 vs. 97). Meanwhile, Artesia (ranked 1105th) will meet Oxford Academy (ranked 513th) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.