The Norco Cougars were the 76-66 winner over the Murrieta Mesa Rams when they last played one another back in November of 2021, but their luck changed this time around. Norco lost to Murrieta Mesa on the road by a decisive 72-55 margin on Monday. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Norco has scored all season.
Norco lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Matthew Mendias, who scored 13 points. The match was Mendias' tenth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kameron Brown, who scored 11 points.
Norco bumped their record down to 8-7 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Murrieta Mesa, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Norco will challenge Granite Hills at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Murrieta Mesa won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Palm Springs at 6:30 p.m. on December 19th. Palm Springs presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Murrieta Mesa in California (Palm Springs is ranked 139th, while Murrieta Mesa is ranked 329th).
