Palm Springs has relied on a stalwart defense averaging 29.36 points allowed per game, but that average took a hit on Thursday. They came up short against the Brawley Wildcats, falling 60-36. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Indians came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 439th, while the Wildcats are ranked 905th).
Shayla Bates and Miley Flores certainly did their best on Thursday to avoid the loss. Bates dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten boards, while Flores posted 12 points. That was a full 44.4% of Palm Springs' points, marking the fourth time in a row she's had more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Aja Walker, who put up four points.
Brawley had a senior duo take command as Dayanna Ortiz posted 21 points and Bre Montano earned 16 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Ortiz has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Lucca Rubin, who had six points.

Indians
| 12/26/24 vs Brawley | 36-60 |
| 12/20/24 vs Desert Hot Springs | 42-36 |
| 12/16/24 @ Indio | 46-19 |
| 12/12/24 @ Desert Hot Springs | 58-20 |
| 12/11/24 @ Coachella Valley | 33-59 |
Palm Springs moved to 11-3 with that loss, which also ended their three-game winning streak. As for Brawley, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-5.
Palm Springs and Liberty will face off at 3:00 p.m. on Friday without much rest having both just played. Liberty has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. As for Brawley, they and Desert Hot Springs will face off at 10:30 a.m. on Friday without much rest having both just played. Brawley is facing Desert Hot Springs at the right time seeing as Desert Hot Springs is stuck on a five-game losing streak.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps