The Seton Catholic Sentinels have been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They were just a bucket shy of victory on Thursday and fell 55-54 to Mesquite. Seton Catholic lost against Mesquite in their previous head to head on January 11th, too, but the margin this time around was much wider than the 68-35 score last time.
Loss or not, Seton Catholic got some senior leadership from Julian Garcia and Luke Padilla. Garcia dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds, while Padilla. scored 15 points along with two steals. Garcia hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Miguel Grijalva, who scored eight points.
Mesquite's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jamar Trotter, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds. That's the first time this season that Trotter pulled down eight or more rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jaylen Wollangk, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Seton Catholic has not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 17-8 record this season. As for Mesquite, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-5.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Seton Catholic won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Marcos de Niza at 7:00 p.m. on January 26th. Marcos de Niza has now lost seven straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since January 3. As for Mesquite, they will head out on the road to square off against Arcadia at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Arcadia will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Arizona Rankings (they are ranked 122nd, while Mesquite is ranked 21st).
