Basketball Recap: Vanden Drops Season-High Score on Pioneer

Vikings

Team Score

01/02/25 @ Pioneer	83
12/13/24 vs Grant	65
12/30/24 vs San Joaquin Memorial	60
12/20/24 vs Birmingham	60
11/30/24 @ Monterey Trail	59

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Vanden). They blew past the Pioneer Patriots 83-21 on Thursday. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 115th, while the Patriots are ranked 801st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Vanden had a senior duo take command as La'Miracle Lebon posted eight points along with 13 boards and seven steals and Calonni Holloway earned 18 points along with seven boards and five assists. That's the most boards Lebon has posted since back in February of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Makayla Smith, who put up 12 points in addition to six boards and four steals.

Vanden smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 43 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in ten consecutive matches.

Despite the loss, Pioneer still got an impressive performance from Marissa Bautista, who had eight points and three steals. Bautista is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed three or more in the last five games she's played.

Vanden's victory was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-7. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.8 points per game. As for Pioneer, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-9.

Vanden wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, an 88-54 win against Sheldon on the 4th. As for Pioneer, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 52-39 loss against Woodland Christian on the 6th.