Basketball Recap: Village Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Carter Sterk and Caleb Heath

After flying high against Alameda last Tuesday, Village came back down to earth. The Village Mountaineers received a blow on Thursday as they fell 72-55 to the Elizabeth Cardinals. The matchup was a 33-33 toss-up at halftime, but the Mountaineers couldn't quite close it out.

Village's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Caleb Heath, who went 7-for-11 on his way to 18 points and seven steals, and Carter Sterk, who went 5-for-9 en route to 25 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. The game was Sterk's fifth in a row with at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of James Driggers, who posted seven points and seven boards.

Elizabeth found their leader in sophomore Cohen Steinke, who went 8-for-14 to rack up 20 points along with eight assists and six rebounds. Steinke is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in each of the last 14 games he's played. Bryan Jeffs was another key player, putting up 16 points in addition to seven boards and four steals.

Village now has a losing record of 9-10. As for Elizabeth, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-12.

Village has already played their next contest, a 60-32 win against Arvada on the 22nd. As for Elizabeth, a feisty cat fight will be fought as the Cardinals face off against the Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Elizabeth is facing Jefferson Academy at the right time seeing as Jefferson Academy is stuck on a four-game losing streak.