Basketball Recap: Valley Lutheran Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Luke Henley and Gary Yang

If Valley Lutheran was riding high fresh off their 59-38 takedown of Duncan last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Valley Lutheran Flames received a blow on Tuesday as they fell 52-34 to the Hayden Lobos. The loss continues a trend for the Flames in their matchups with the Lobos: they've now lost four in a row.

Valley Lutheran's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Gary Yang, who went 8 of 10 on his way to 19 points and eight rebounds, and Luke Henley, who posted five points and four steals. The dominant performance gave Yang a new career-high in points. Anias Macias was another key player, putting up five points.

Hayden was led to victory by Mario Hong and Tyler Garner. Hong dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 boards, while Garner went 6 for 8 en route to 18 points along with six rebounds and three blocks. Hong is also on a roll when it comes to blocks, as he's now posted two or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Paul Gaither, who earned two points and seven boards.

Valley Lutheran's loss dropped their record down to 10-3. As for Hayden, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-9.

Valley Lutheran will challenge San Manuel at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Valley Lutheran is facing San Manuel at the right time seeing as San Manuel is stuck on a nine-game losing streak. As for Hayden, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 69-48 victory against Duncan on the 16th.