The Portola Tigers came tearing into Saturday's matchup with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. The stars were shining brightly for them in a 62-44 victory over Tulelake. Given Portola's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 614th, while Tulelake is ranked 1313th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Portola found their leader in underclassman Connor Sheridan, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 17 rebounds. That makes it 11 consecutive games in which Sheridan has scored at least 25% of Portola's points. Another player making a difference was Liam Bowling, who scored 14 points along with five rebounds.
Despite the loss, Tulelake still got an impressive performance from Leo Leon, who scored 26 points. The match was Leon's sixth in a row with at least ten points. Erik Salazar was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Tulelake struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Portola racked up 19 assists.
Portola's win bumped their record up to 8-3. As for Tulelake, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-9.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Portola will be home for the holidays to greet Virginia City at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Virginia City knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past four matches -- so hopefully Portola likes a good challenge. Tulelake will be home for the holidays to greet Dunsmuir at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Dunsmuir has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.
