After flying high against the Browne Bruins last Tuesday, the Maryvale Panthers came back down to earth. Maryvale took a serious blow against North on Friday, falling 79-37. While losing is never fun, Maryvale can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 258th, while North is ranked 115th).
Maryvale lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Dalia Valdez, who scored 11 points along with eight rebounds. Marianna Jennings was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with eight rebounds.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead North to victory, but perhaps none more so than Xxylina Flores, who scored 24 points along with six rebounds and five steals. Flores has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 13 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Saniyah Downing, who scored 24 points along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Maryvale's defeat was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 3-11. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 28.0 points per game. As for North, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-8 record this season.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Maryvale will challenge Alhambra at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. As for North, they will head out on the road to challenge Carl Hayden Community at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Carl Hayden Community is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'.
