If the Peyton Panthers were feeling good off their 74-29 takedown of the Center Vikings last Saturday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Peyton took a 60-49 hit to the loss column at the hands of Salida on Thursday. Peyton lost against Salida in their previous head to head back in January of 2023, too, but the margin this time around was much wider than the 63-33 score last time.
Peyton lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Michael Perry, who scored 16 points along with seven assists and three steals. Perry scored a full 32.7% of Peyton's points, the seventh time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ayden Breese, who scored 13 points along with nine rebounds.
Even though they lost, Peyton were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Peyton's defeat dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Salida, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 7-2.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Peyton will take on The Vanguard School at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Salida won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Manitou Springs at 7:00 p.m. on January 12th. Manitou Springs will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Colorado Rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while Salida is ranked 60th).
