On Thursday, the Spanish Springs Cougars faced the Bishop Manogue Miners in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Spanish Springs took a hard 49-34 fall against Bishop Manogue. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Spanish Springs in their matchups with Bishop Manogue: they've now lost five in a row.
Several Cougars players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Reese Wakefield, who scored 11 points. Wakefield continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. Layni Noonkester was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Spanish Springs were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Bishop Manogue only pulled down 19 offensive rebounds.
It was another big night for Mata Peaua, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and five steals for Bishop Manogue. The match was Peaua's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Fa'anaetaua Puloka, who scored six points along with nine rebounds and six assists.
Spanish Springs has been struggling recently, as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-7 record this season. As for Bishop Manogue, the victory (which was their tenth in a row) raised their record to 11-1.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Spanish Springs will challenge Douglas at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Nevada (Douglas is ranked 14th, while Spanish Springs is ranked 16th). Bishop Manogue will be staying on the road on Saturday to face off against Reno at 12:30 p.m. on January 6th. Hopefully Reno focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 34 on Thursday.
