The Artesia Pioneers's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their third straight loss. They had to suffer through a rough 56-18 loss at the hands of Pioneer. While losing is never fun, Artesia can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 817th, while the Titans are ranked 363rd).
Pioneer was led to victory by Daysia Almendarez and Riley Almendarez. Almendarez scored seven points along with eight rebounds and seven steals, while Almendarez dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. Almendarez hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for 16 straight games. Aryanna Reyes was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with six rebounds and four steals.
Artesia has not been sharp recently as the team's lost seven of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-13 record this season. As for Pioneer, their win bumped their record up to 10-16.
Artesia will head out on the road to challenge the Patriots at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Oxford Academy focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 27 on Tuesday. As for Pioneer, they won't have much time to rest: their next match is against the Condors at 4:00 p.m. on January 31st. California is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road.
