The Nogales Apaches's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fourth straight loss. They took a 51-44 hit to the loss column at the hands of Cholla. If Nogales hoped to take revenge for the 58-38 defeat against they when the teams met, then they were left disappointed.
Despite the loss, Nogales still got an impressive performance from Rafael Vasavilbaso, who scored 12 points. Another player making a difference was Aaron Franco, who scored six points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Cholla to victory, but perhaps none more so than Michael Payne, who scored 15 points along with five assists. Payne is absolutely dominating the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Jerry Mendoza, who scored nine points along with four steals.
Nogales' defeat dropped their record down to 8-8. As for Cholla, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-5.
Nogales will take on Cienega at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Hopefully Cienega focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up ten last Wednesday. As for Cholla, they will head out on the road to take on Mountain View at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Mountain View is coming into the game hot, having won their last 11 games.
