The Middle Park Panthers scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They really took it to Lake County for the full four quarters, racking up a 78-51 win at home. With that victory, Middle Park brought their scoring average up to 53.2 points per game.
It was another big night for Joey Gagnon, who shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and dropped a double-double on 26 points and 14 rebounds. The match was his third in a row with at least ten points. Connor Burns was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with eight rebounds.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Isaiah Martinez, who scored 19 points. Martinez scored a full 37.3% of Lake County's points, the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Jonathan Valdez, who scored five points along with five assists and five steals.
Middle Park's victory was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-3. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.4 points per game. As for Lake County, their loss ended a five-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 2-3.
Middle Park will head out on the road to face off against Moffat County at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Colorado (Moffat County is ranked 137th, while Middle Park is ranked 148th). Lake County will be home for the holidays to greet West Grand at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. West Grand comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 24 points in their last three games, a trend the squad is of course eager to reverse.
