The Lucerne Valley Mustangs waltzed into their match on Tuesday with two straight wins but they left with three. They walked away with a 54-42 win over Academy of Careers & Exploration. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Lucerne Valley also won the last time the pair played back in December of 2023.
Lucerne Valley found their leader in underclassman Jasmine Pepper, who scored 23 points along with three steals. That's the first time this season that Pepper scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Chloe Evans, who scored 11 points along with eight assists and seven rebounds.
When it comes to explaining why Academy of Careers & Exploration lost, one person who can't be blamed is DeIsis Ross. Despite the final result, she scored 25 points along with five steals. That was a full 59.5% of Academy of Careers & Exploration's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Bethany White was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with five steals.
Academy of Careers & Exploration struggled to work together and finished the game with only two assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Lucerne Valley racked up 20 assists.
Lucerne Valley has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Academy of Careers & Exploration, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 4-7.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Lucerne Valley will take on Silver Valley at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Silver Valley comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 23 points in their last three games, a trend the squad is of course eager to reverse. As for Academy of Careers & Exploration, they will look to defend their home court on Monday against Apple Valley Christian at 5:30 p.m. Apple Valley Christian is no doubt hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
