Basketball Recap: Samueli Academy Falls Despite Big Games from Zack Castruita and Haset Seyoum

Samueli Academy lost against Savanna back in December of 2023 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Monday. The Samueli Academy Firewolves came up short against the Savanna Rebels, falling 72-52. The Firewolves were down 57-35 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Samueli Academy's loss came despite strong showings from Haset Seyoum and Zack Castruita. Seyoum posted 17 points along with five boards and four blocks, while Castruita dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance gave Seyoum a new career-high in blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Morgan Ordaz, who put up 11 points and five rebounds.

Branden Ellis was a one-man wrecking crew for Savanna as he went 9 of 19 on his way to 23 points and six steals. Savanna is 7-3 when Ellis posts five or more steals, but 2-3 otherwise. Joachim Bikoula was another key player, going 8 of 10 on his way to 16 points and three steals.

Samueli Academy's loss dropped their record down to 6-6. As for Savanna, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season.

Samueli Academy will venture away from home to take on Capistrano Valley Christian at 7:00 p.m. on January 7th. Capistrano Valley Christian is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 64 points per game this season. As for Savanna, they will host Estancia at 6:00 p.m. on January 7th. Savanna also hasn't been messing around on offense: they've averaged 54.9 points per game.