The Downey Christian Patriots scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Saturday. They took down Vine Christian Academy 84-68. The win was nothing new for Downey Christian as they're now sitting on three straight.
Downey Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Mickael Heritiana led the charge by scoring 18 points along with six assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Maylon Marte, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds.
Defeat or not, Vine Christian Academy got some senior leadership from Keniel Velez and Luis Carias. Velez dropped a double-double on 26 points and ten assists, while Carias. scored 20 points along with eight assists and five rebounds. That was a full 38.2% of Vine Christian Academy's points, marking the 12th time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Gilbert Oquendo, who scored eight points along with two steals.
Even though they lost, Vine Christian Academy were working as a unit and finished the game with 28 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Downey Christian only posted 11 assists.
Downey Christian is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season. As for Vine Christian Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-8.
Downey Christian will face off against Jordan Christian Prep at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Florida (Jordan Christian Prep is ranked 149th, while Downey Christian is ranked 138th). Vine Christian Academy will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against Pathways at 3:15 p.m. on February 1st.
