The Linfield Christian Lions were the 57-54 winner over the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks when they last played one another back in February, but their luck changed this time around. Linfield Christian fell 63-56 to Murrieta Valley on Friday. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Despite the loss, Linfield Christian had strong showings from Drew Pierce, who scored 20 points along with five rebounds, and Julius Brower, who scored 24 points. The contest was Pierce's ninth in a row with at least ten points.
Linfield Christian struggled to work together and finished the game with only three assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Leading Murrieta Valley to victory were Shaun Stoll Jr. and Brady Jones. Stoll Jr. scored 16 points along with six rebounds and five steals, while Jones scored 23 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Jones set a new season high mark in blocks with two. Parker Steffen was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Linfield Christian's defeat was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 5-6. As for Murrieta Valley, they now have a winning record of 7-6.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Linfield Christian will square off against Santa Margarita at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Santa Margarita is coming into the contest hot, having won their last six games. Murrieta Valley will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Rancho Dominguez at 12:30 p.m. on December 26th. Rancho Dominguez will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 838th, while Murrieta Valley is ranked 263rd).
